Christopher & Banks Corp. reports strong October sales, raises Q3 EPS guidance
Shares of Christopher & Banks Corp. (NYSE: CBK) are treading higher today after the retailer reported a 22% increase in October sales and raised its third-quarter earnings guidance.
For the five-week period ended Nov. 3, same-store sales were $66.4 million compared with $53 million for October 2006 on account of positive results of the company’s friends and family promotion. Additionally, October merchandise margins were in line with last year’s levels.
Christopher & Banks also raised its third-quarter earnings guidance. The small cap said it now expects earnings per share in the range of $0.26 to $0.28, compared with the company’s previous guidance range of $0.22 to $0.24 per share. Nine analysts surveyed by Thomson are on average estimating EPS of $0.22. For the third quarter of 2006, the company booked earnings per share of $0.24. The company noted that the updated guidance reflects expectations for a low to mid-single digit same-store sales increase in November same-store sales.
For the full year, Christopher & Banks estimates earnings per share to be in the range of $0.74 to $0.78, compared with $0.89 per share earned in 2006. Ten analysts surveyed by Thomson are on average forecasting EPS of $0.72 for the full year.
Shares of Christopher & Banks (CBK) popped 8.8%, or $1.25, to $15.45 in pre-market trading. Shares of Christopher & Banks have been trading in the range of $11.35 to $23.06 for the past 52 weeks.
