2023-03-14 07:10:05 ET
J. Jill ( NYSE: JILL ) shares jumped in Tuesday’s premarket hours after the retailer reported a surprise Q4 profit.
For the fourth quarter, the company reported GAAP EPS of $0.07, far better than the $0.10 loss expected on the Street. Revenue clocked in at $147.7M, also narrowly exceeding expectations , while comparable sales grew 5.3% year over year.
Gross margins fell 420 basis points year over year owing to a highly promotional environment and inventory clearing actions. Management noted that inventory at the end of the fourth quarter was $50.6M, down over $5M from the prior year quarter.
“In 2023, we expect to build on this progress while maintaining the disciplined approach to inventory and expense management that we have demonstrated over the past eight quarters,” CEO Claire Spofford said. “While we are cautious with respect to our outlook for this year given the ongoing macro-related headwinds, we remain focused on positioning J.Jill for long term profitable growth.”
The Quincy, Massachusetts-based company expects first quarter revenues to be “down in the mid-single-digits compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2022” while adjusted EBITDA is expected to improve sequentially to a range of $25M to$30M. Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 came in at $15M.
Shares of J. Jill rose 5.03% in premarket action on light volume.
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J. Jill stock jumps on earnings beat, inventory actions