Burlington Stores Inc. shares surged 6% Thursday, after the discount retailer posted better-than-expected profit for its latest quarter. MKM Partners reiterated their buy rating on the stock and said it believes trends have improved. Burlington said it had net income of $52.4 million, or 73 cents a share, in the quarter, up from $37.5 million, or 57 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 79 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 70 cents. Sales rose 5% to $1.35 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $1.36 billion. Same-store sales rose 0.5%, missing the FactSet consensus for a rise of 2.4%. The company said it now expects same-store sales to grow 2% to 3% for the rest of the year, yielding a full-year forecast of 1.6% to 2.4%. It expects full-year EPS of $3.86 to $3.96. FactSet is expecting full-year EPS of $3.89. “While the comp fell short of expectations and while we were hoping for better, we note that March/April rose 4.5%, and May was said to be off to a strong start,” MKM analyst Roxanne Meyer wrote in a note. “We’d also note that new store productivity remains exceptionally robust.” Shares have gained 17% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 7%.
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