Kirkland (NASDAQ: KIRK) shares rose sharply in premarket trading Thursday after the home decor and furnishings retailer reported a fourth-quarter profit.
“The fourth quarter marked our first full quarter in which we capitalized on the strategic repositioning initiatives we implemented, which generated positive comparable sales results, strong gross margins and healthy operating cash flow,” said CEO Amy Sullivan.
Thanks to increased store traffic and a higher conversion of store visitors into paying customers, Kirkland’s (KIRK) earned a profit of $0.78 per share compared to a loss of $0.30 per share in the same quarter last year , with a sales increase of 2.1%. at $165.9 million. While earnings came in above expectations by $0.36, sales missed consensus estimates by $1.3 million.
And although e-commerce sales fell 8.3%, comparable same-store sales were even higher last quarter and increased 4.8% year over year.
The company’s gross profit margin in the fourth quarter increased to 32.0% from 24.8% and increased to 27.1% in 2023 from 24.0% a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $14.2 million from just $2.6 million a year earlier.
On the balance sheet, cash and cash equivalents fell 26% to $3.8 million, while outstanding debt was $34.0 at year-end. Inventories fell 12% to $74.1 million.
KIRK was 15.6% higher pre-market.