Shares of Burlington Stores Inc. BURL dropped 1.8% in premarket trading Thursday, after the discount apparel retailer reported fiscal first-quarter profit and revenue that missed expectations, as lower tax refunds and cooler weather weighed on sales. Net income doubled, to $32.7 million, or 50 cents a share, from $16.2 million, or 24 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 84 cents missed the FactSet consensus of92 cents. Revenue grew 10.7% to $2.14 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $2.17 billion, as same-store sales growth of 4% missed expectations of a 6.3% rise. “We had gotten off to a very strong start but then the trend fell off in March,” said Chief Executive Officer Michael Sullivan. “We believe that this weakening in the trend was driven by two external and transitory factors – lower tax refunds and cooler weather leading up to Easter.” He said business as seen “a nice pick-up” since mid-April. The company said it expects fiscal 2023 adjusted EPS of $5.50 to $6.00, which surrounds the FactSet consensus of $5.94, and expects total sales growth of 12% to 14%, while the FactSet consensus of $9.78 billion implies 12.6% growth. The stock has tumbled 25.6% over the past three months through Wednesday while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 3.7%.
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