Reuters: Global Markets: Williams-Sonoma beats Street, raises profit outlook

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Williams-Sonoma beats Street, raises profit outlook May 22nd 2012, 14:40 Tue May 22, 2012 10:40am EDT (Reuters) - Williams-Sonoma Inc's (WSM.N) first-quarter results beat analysts' estimates on strong demand at its Pottery Barn furnishings chain and West Elm furniture stores, prompting the U.S. home goods retailer to raise its full-year earnings estimate. The company's shares rose as much as 7 percent to $37.05 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, before falling back to $35.80. The San Francisco-based company has been boosting its e-commerce business and opening more stores. It raised its expectation for full-year adjusted earnings to between $2.42 and $2.49 per share from $2.37 to $2.47 per share. BB&T Capital Markets analyst Anthony Chukumba said Williams-Sonoma's results were impressive, especially after the retirement of its influential finance chief Sharon McCollam in March. "It was important for the management to demonstrate to investors there is much more to Williams-Sonoma than McCollam," Chukumba wrote in a note to clients. For the first quarter, the company reported earnings of $30.7 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with $31.6 million, or 29 cents per share last year. On an adjusted basis the company earned 34 cents per share, beating analysts' expectations of 32 cents. Sales rose 6 percent to $817.6 million, also above Wall Street estimates of $811.7 million. Comparable sales at its Pottery Barn brand grew 9.1 percent, while those at West Elm increased 22.1 percent. (This story refiled to add dropped word in paragraph 5) (Reporting by Juhi Arora and Arpita Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Sreejiraj Eluvangal) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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