Post-Earnings Briefing - Ross Stores

LONDON, August 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Investor-Edge.com has issued free post-earnings coverage on Ross Stores Incorporation (NASDAQ: ROST). The company reported its second quarter results for the fiscal year 2014 on Thursday, August 21, 2014. For Q2 FY14, Ross Stores Inc.'s diluted earnings per share increased $0.16 on a Y-o-Y basis, net earnings grew 12% from the previous year quarter and sales increased 7% Y-o-Y. Our free coverage report can be accessed at:

http://www.investor-edge.com/register

Earnings Overview  

For the second quarter ended August 02, 2014, Ross Stores Inc. reported diluted earnings per share of $1.14, up 16% YoY from $0.98 for the period ended August 03, 2013. During Q2 FY14, Ross Stores Inc.'s sales grew 7% YoY to $2.73 billion, compared to $2.55 billion in the preceding year quarter. Analysts at Bloomberg expected sales of $2.71 billion and diluted EPS of $1.08. The company's net earnings for Q2 FY14 rose 12% YoY to $239.56 million, from $213.12 million in the year ago quarter. Moreover, the company's comparable store sales for the reported quarter grew 2% over a 4% increase reported a year ago in the same period. The free research on ROST can be downloaded as in PDF format at:

http://www.Investor-Edge.com/ROSTFreeReport

Commenting on the recent quarterly results, Ross Stores Inc.'s CEO, Barbara Rentler, stated that second quarter sales came in at the upper-end of the company's expectations, driven by value-focused consumers' continued response to the company's wide assortment of competitive name brand bargains. She added that merchandise gross margin came in ahead of the company's target, which along with strong expense controls, enabled Ross Stores Inc. to deliver strong quarterly earnings per share that exceeded the high end of the company's guidance. Ms. Rentler also said that the operating margin for the second quarter grew to a record 14.3%, up from 13.6% in the prior year quarter, primarily driven by a 25 basis point increment in the cost of goods sold, due to higher merchandise gross margin, and a 45 basis point decline in selling, general and administrative expenses, which were achieved through expense controls and from the favorable resolution of an outstanding legal matter.

Ms. Rentler added that the company has continued to enhance stockholder wealth through its stock repurchase and dividend programs. During the first six months of FY 2014, Ross Stores Inc. repurchased 4.1 million shares of common stock for an aggregate price of $277.39 million.  The company is on course to buy back a total of $550 million in common stock during FY 2014, which would complete the two-year $1.1 billion stock re-purchase program authorized at the start of FY 2013. Sign up and read the free analyst's notes on ROST at:

http://www.Investor-Edge.com/ROST-27082014

Looking ahead, Ms. Rentler also provided an outlook for Q3 and Q4 of FY 2014 as well as for the FY ending January 31, 2015. In its guidance for the third quarter ending November 01, 2014, the company is anticipating earnings per share in the range of $0.83 to $0.87, up from $.80 in the year ago quarter. Meanwhile, for Q4 FY14 ending January 31, 2015, earnings per share are forecasted in the range of $1.05 to $1.09, up from $1.02 in Q4 FY13. In its guidance for 52 weeks ending January 31, 2015, the Dublin, California-based retailer is projecting EPS in the range of $4.18 to $4.26, up from $3.88 for the 52 weeks ended February 1, 2014. The company's guidance is based on the forecasts that the same store sales are expected to increase 1% to 2% for the third and fourth quarters of 2014.

Stock Performance    

On Friday, August 22, 2014, a day after the earnings release, shares in Ross Stores Inc. rallied 7.39% to end the session at $74.37. On the last close, Tuesday, August 26, 2014, the stock edged 0.72% higher to end the session at $74.35. The stock vacillated between $73.82 and $74.87 during the session. A total of 1.83 million shares were traded, which was above its three months average volume of 1.77 million shares. Over the previous three trading sessions and over the last one month, the company's shares have gained 7.36% and 17.16%, respectively. However, from the beginning of 2014, the stock has declined 0.77%. Ross Stores Inc.'s shares are trading above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $66.10 and $70.06, respectively. Moreover, the stock traded at a PE ratio of 18.18 and has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 74.99. Visit Investor-Edge and access the latest research on ROST at:

http://www.Investor-Edge.com/ROSTEarningsCoverage

Sneak Peek to Corporate Insider Trading  

In the last one month, Ross Stores Inc. has not reported any share transactions by insiders to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Complimentary in-depth research on ROST is available at:

http://www.Investor-Edge.com/ROSTInsiderTrading

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