Housewares retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc. Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 55 percent jump in quarterly profit on strong sales at its Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids chains.
The San Francisco-based company maintained its earnings forecasts for the rest of the year despite the strong quarterly performance, citing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
Williams-Sonoma said it earned $27.6 million, or 23 cents per share, in the second quarter ended Aug. 1, compared with $17.8 million, or 15 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average expected earnings of 19 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. That was the midpoint of the profit forecast that Williams-Sonoma gave in May.
Quarterly revenue, including shipping fees, rose 18.8 percent to $689.6 million, while retail net sales climbed 13.5 percent to $380.7 million.
Second-quarter sales at stores open at least a year — or same-store sales — rose 5 percent overall. But same-store sales at the company’s namesake Williams-Sonoma housewares chain were down 1.6 percent, while those at Pottery Barn jumped 10.2 percent.
The retailer kept its third-quarter earnings forecast of 21 cents to 23 cents per share and its fourth-quarter target of 95 cents to 99 cents.
Analysts expected 23 cents in the third quarter and 98 cents in the fourth, according to Reuters Estimates.