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Burlington Stores Lifts Full-Year Guide; Second-Quarter Outlook Implies Comparable Sales Slowdown

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Burlington Stores Lifts Full-Year Guide; Second-Quarter Outlook Implies Comparable Sales Slowdown

Burlington Stores (BURL) raised its full-year outlook on Thursday, while the off-price retailer's guidance for the ongoing quarter indicated a sequential slowdown in comparable sales growth.

Burlington now anticipates fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $11.45 to $11.80 per share, up from the prior guidance of $10.95 to $11.45. Revenue growth is pegged at 9% to 11%, compared with 8% to 10% previously projected. Comparable sales are expected to grow 2% to 4%, up from the prior outlook that called for a 1% to 3% increase.

Analysts in a FactSet poll are looking for full-year non-GAAP EPS of $11.52 on revenue of $12.74 billion and comparable sales growth of 3.1%. The company reported non-GAAP EPS of $9.76 and net sales of $11.55 billion for the year ended in January.

For the second quarter, Burlington expects comparable sales to grow 1% to 3%, versus Wall Street's 2.1% growth view. The outlook indicates a projected slowdown from the first-quarter's 6% increase that surpassed the 4.6% consensus estimate.

Shares of Burlington slid 7.5% intraday Thursday. The stock is up 4.3% so far this year.

"As a reminder, in (the second quarter) we will be lapping our strongest quarterly comparison versus last year," Chief Executive Michael O'Sullivan said at an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript. "In terms of the back half, we continue to feel good about the comp outlook that we discussed in our March call."

Second-quarter adjusted EPS is pegged at $2.05 to $2.20 on 10% to 12% sales growth. Analysts are looking for $1.94 in EPS on revenue of $2.98 billion.

"Our sales trend for May month to date is tracking at the high end of our comp sales guidance range," Chief Financial Officer Kristin Wolfe told analysts. "That said, our month by month comparisons get more difficult as we move through the quarter."

For the first quarter ended May 2, adjusted EPS rose to $2.01 from $1.60 a year earlier, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.80. Net sales jumped 14% to $2.85 billion, while the Street expected $2.80 billion.

"Our comp trends were broad-based across businesses and geographies, with particular strength in ladies apparel, beauty, and accessories," O'Sullivan said on the call.

Price: $302.67, Change: $-23.56, Percent Change: -7.22%

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