Shares of Tractor Supply Co. TSCO dropped 6.3% in premarket trading, putting them on track to suffer a third-straight loss after closing Monday at a record high, after the rural-lifestyle retailer missed profit and sales expectations, as “less favorable” spring weather trends delayed the spring selling season. Net income for the quarter to April 1 came in at $183.1 million, or $1.65 a share, versus $187.2 million, or $1.65 a share, in the year-ago period. That missed the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of $1.71. Sales grew 9.1% to $3.30 billion, just shy of the FactSet consensus of $3.32 billion, while same-store sales growth of 2.1% was less than half expectations for a 4.4% rise. “We saw materially softer demand in our seasonal products due to a delay in the spring selling season across most of our markets, notably in the last few weeks of March, and to a lesser extent a mild January,” said Chief Executive Officer Hal Lawton. “We believe that our customer remains healthy, as evidenced by positive comparable transactions in our last two months, and that we continue to gain market share.” The company expects 2023 EPS of $10.30 to $10.60 and same-store sales growth of 3.5% to 5.5%, compared with the FactSet consensus for EPS of $10.51 and same-store sales growth of 4.3%. The stock, which closed Monday at a record $249.97, has rallied 8.1% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 5.6%.
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