ROST Ross Stores Inc

   By Dave Sebastian 
 

Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) posted higher second-quarter profit as sales rose, beating Wall Street estimates.

The Dublin, Calif., company reported a profit of $412.7 million, or $1.14 a share, compared with $389.4 million, or $1.04 a share, in the comparable quarter last year. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $1.11 a share.

Sales for the off-price retailer were $3.98 billion, compared with $3.74 billion in the prior year. Analysts had expected $3.96 billion.

The company said its comparable-store sales grew 3% compared with the same quarter last year.

Ross Stores narrowed its full-year earnings guidance to between $4.41 and $4.50, compared with its previous outlook of $4.38 to $4.52.

The company said it sees a slight impact on its third and fourth quarters from the 10% tariffs on goods sourced from China. For the third quarter, Ross Stores said it expects per-share earnings to be between 92 cents and 96 cents. For the fourth quarter, the company said it sees per-share earnings to be between $1.20 and $1.25.

Ross Stores said it is backing its outlook for same-store sales gains of 1% to 2% for the third and fourth quarters.

On Aug. 13, the company promoted four of its executives, including former finance chief Michael Hartshorn to group president and operating chief, effective Aug. 16.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2019 16:37 ET (20:37 GMT)

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