Kirkland's Hits Estimates in Solid Quarter

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Kirkland's (NAS: KIRK) reported earnings on March 8. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Jan. 28 (Q4), Kirkland's met expectations on both revenue and earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew and GAAP earnings per share improved.

Gross margin grew, operating margin dropped, and net margin contracted.

Revenue details
Kirkland's notched revenue of $148.5 million. The one analyst polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $148.5 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 6.8% higher than the prior-year quarter's $139.6 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.74. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.74 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $0.78 for Q4 was 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.69 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 43%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 16.1%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 10.2%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $99.7 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.14.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $469.0 million. The average EPS estimate is $1.13.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 104 members rating the stock outperform and 19 members rating it underperform. Among 30 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 27 give Kirkland's a green thumbs-up, and three give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Kirkland's is outperform, with an average price target of $18.00.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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