Five Below Loweres High Ends Of Q4 Sales, Earnings Outlook Ranges

(RTTNews) - Discount retailer Five Below, Inc. (FIVE) said Thursday that its net sales for the nine weeks ended January 3, 2015 increased 24.5% to $230.7 million from $185.3 million in the comparable nine-week period of fiscal 2013, while same-store sales for that period increased by 3.2%, driven by average ticket.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, the company now expects net sales of $262 million to $263 million and earnings of $0.59 to $0.60 per share. Previously, the company expected net sales of $262 million to $266 million and earnings of $0.59 to $0.62 per share.

Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of $0.61 per share and revenues of $265.75 million for the fourth quarter.

Thomas Vellios, Co-Founder and CEO of Five Below, said, "We saw softness in the business post-Black Friday that continued into early December. Our sales accelerated closer to Christmas and into the post-holiday period, resulting in a comp store sales performance for the nine weeks of +3.2%."