Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) reported its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter and issued guidance for sales and gross margin.
Shares fell over 4% in premarket trading Thursday.
The discount retail chain reported a loss per share of $0.28, worse than the anticipated loss per share of $0.23. The company's quarterly revenue matched expectations at $1.43 billion.
Comparable store sales declined by 8.6%, marking an improvement over last year's decrease of 13% and nearly in line with the estimated drop of 8.57%.
Big Lots saw a year-over-year gross margin increase of 166 basis points, reaching 38.0%, short of the consensus expectation of 38.1%.
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2024, Big Lots' management expects a mid-single-digit decline in comparable store sales, against a consensus estimate of -4.3%.
They also forecast a gross margin increase of 200 to 250 basis points, aiming for a range of 36.9% to 37.4%, compared to the consensus of 37.7%.
The company did not provide adjusted EPS guidance.
Commenting on the report, Goldman Sachs analysts said:
“We expect a negative reaction to the lower-than-expected 4Q results and 1Q24 outlook.”
“On the conference call, we will be looking for commentary regarding the health of the company’s core customer; trade down trends; quarter-to-date trends; inventory availability; inventory composition; inflationary pressures; shrink management; and expectations for FY24,” they added.