Ross Stores Raises FY21 Earnings Outlook

(RTTNews) - Discount store company Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) on Thursday provided outlook for the third quarter and fiscal 2021. In the third quarter, the company expects earnings per share between $0.61 and $0.69 and same store sales to be up 5-7 percent. On average, 21 analysts expect the company to post earnings of $0.93 per share in the third quarter. The company also raised its full year earnings per share guidance to be between $4.20 and $4.38 on a comparable store sales gain of 10-11 percent. Ross Stores earlier expected earnings per share between $3.93 and $4.20. On average, 24 analysts expect the company to post earnings of $4.35 per share for the year. In the second quarter, the company's profit totaled $494.26 million, or $1.39 per share. This compares with $22.05 million, or $0.06 per share, in last year's same quarter. Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.94 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. The company's revenue for the quarter rose 79.1% to $4.80 billion from $2.68 billion last year while consensus revenue was $4.48 billion. In after-market trading, the stock is down $5.80 or 4 percent to $120.78. ROST ended Thursday's trade at $126.58, up $2.53 on the NYSE.