Bath & Body Works surges on strong beat, DB sees ‘favorable setup ahead’ By Investing.com

By Senad Karaahmetovic

Shares of Bath & Body Works (NYSE:) are up more than 20% pre-open Thursday after the company delivered a strong earnings report for its third quarter and raised its full-year profit guidance.

BBWI an EPS of $0.40 to crush the average analyst estimate of $0.20. Revenue came in at $1.6 billion, higher than the consensus estimate of $1.56B. The company reported it operated 1,787 stores at the end of Q3.

For this quarter, BBWI sees EPS between $1.45 and $1.65, in line with the consensus. On a full-year basis, the EPS forecast range is raised to $3.00-3.20, up from $2.70-3 and higher than the consensus of $2.95.

“Looking forward through the remainder of the year and beyond, we are pleased with our assortment — a great mix of returning holiday favorites and new giftable offerings,” said Interim CEO Sarah Nash in the company’s release.

Deutsche Bank analysts said BBWI delivered a “strong” beat. The analysts see a “favorable setup ahead” for Bath & Body Works stock.

“We think today’s beat could turn sentiment more favorable (stock up ~23% post-market), although the macro environment continues to be volatile going into a relatively promotional holiday season. That said, the company’s 4Q top-line guidance factors in the potential for trends to slow. Overall, we continue to view BBWI positively as the company prioritizes bottomline discipline and captures new market share opportunities,” the analysts wrote in a note.

Goldman Sachs analysts said the results were “solid.”

“BBWI provided positive early reads on its loyalty program, which now consists of over 21 million members comprising more than one-third of the company’s customer base, with loyalty sales representing two-thirds of total US sales since its launch in August,” the analysts said.

Bath & Body Works stock was down 55% year-to-end into the earnings print.