Shares of Signet Jewelers Ltd. rallied 7.2% in premarket trading Thursday, after the jewelry retailer reported a big profit beat and increased its stock repurchase program, to offset a same-store sales miss. For the quarter to April 30, Signet swung to a net loss of $92.1 million, or $1.89 a share, after net income of $129.8 million, or $2.23 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share rose to $2.86 from $2.23, beating the FactSet consensus of $2.38. Sales grew 8.9% to $1.84 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.82 billion, while same-store sales growth of 2.5% missed expectations for a 5.1% rise. The company affirmed its fiscal 2023 outlook for EPS of $12.72 to $13.47 and for revenue of $8.03 billion to $8.25 billion, which compares favorably with the FactSet EPS consensus of $11.81 and revenue consensus of $8.03 billion. Separately, the company increased its stock repurchase program by $500 million. The stock has dropped 28.5% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has lost 13.7%.
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