La-Z-Boy Stock Up 20% On Strong Q1 Results

(RTTNews) - Furniture maker La-Z-Boy Inc. (LZB), Tuesday reported a profit and revenues for the first quarter that trounced Wall Street estimates, sending its shares surgtin about 20 percent in after-hours trade.

Monroe, Michigan-based La-Z-Boy's first-quarter profit rose to $18.3 million or $0.39 per share from $11.7 million or $0.24 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.25 per share for the quarter.

La-Z-Boy's sales for the quarter rose 7.7 percent to $384.7 million from $357.1 million a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $368.2 million for the quarter.

CEO Kurt Darrow said, "We had an excellent start to fiscal 2019, with strong results across the business. In addition to sales increases in all three operating segments, the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries store network delivered its sixth consecutive quarterly increase in written same-store sales, and our company-owned Retail segment posted a strong delivered same-store sales increase for the 139 stores owned in last year's first quarter."

Within the company's wholesale segment, upholstery sales rose 6.9 percent to $293.4 million, while casegoods rose 11.3 percent to $28.4 million. Sales from retail segment increased 7.9 percent to $119.2 million.

Same-store sales for the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries network increased 3.1 percent.

Operating margin for the quarter was 6.0 percent, up from 4.6 percent last year.

LZB closed Tuesday's trading at $33.10, up $0.70 or 2.16%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $6.50 or 19.64% in the after-hours trade.