Bebe Stores (BEBE) is scheduled to report fourth quarter and full-year financial performance for the fiscal year 2011 on Thursday, August 25. The company markets women's apparel and accessories through the brands bebe, BEBE SPORT, bbsp and 2b bebe. Bebe operates primarily in the United States, Canada and Japan, with sales in 16 other countries through licensing agreements.
Q3 Highlights:
- Net sales from continuing operations were $109.5 million, up 0.6 percent compared with $108.8 million in the third quarter a year ago. Comparable store sales decreased 0.7 percent, compared with a decrease of 11.2 percent in the same prior-year quarter.
- The company incurred an operating loss from continuing activities of $4.6 million as against an operating loss of $2.6 million in the comparable year-ago quarter.
- Net loss from continuing operations was $2.6 million, an improvement over a net loss of $5.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2010.
- Diluted EPS was $(0.03), halved from $(0.06) in the comparable year-ago quarter.
Analysts expect the company to report losses in the range of $0.07 to $0.03 per share, with a consensus estimate of $0.05 and a coefficient variance of -26.69. Net sales for the quarter were $122.4 million, an increase of 7.3 percent year-over-year compared with $114.1 million. In the comparable year-ago quarter, bebe earned $0.04 per share. During the quarter the company also reported that same store sales increased 7 percent compared with a decrease of 3.4 percent in the prior-year quarter. This indicates that operations are showing improvements, but margins have been getting tighter affecting profitability. The company has been a better performer among women's wear retailers, but analysts still maintain that its stock is volatile.
BEBE is currently trading at $6.32, and has been trading in the range of $5.41 to $8.25 in the past 52 weeks. The stock has an average target price of $8.00, and analysts have a mean recommendation of Hold.