Stein Mart Q1 Profit Misses Estimates, Shares Decline

Shares of Stein Mart, Inc. SMRT dropped over 5 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the fiscal first quarter on Thursday. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company posted a quarterly profit of $13.6 million, or $0.29 per share, down from $14.1 million, or $0.31 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, the company's earnings declined to $0.31 per share from $0.32 per share. Its revenue gained 7.5 percent year-over-year to $353.5 million from $328.9 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.34 per share on revenue of $347.96 million. Its comparable store sales rose 4.8 percent in the first quarter. Traffic surged more than 2 percent in the same quarter. Stein Mart's gross profit for the first quarter rose to $108.4 million, or 30.7 percent of sales, versus $104.3 million, or 31.7 percent of sales. SG&A expenses increased to $85.6 million from $81.2 million. During the quarter, the company opened 1 new store and closed 1 store. At the end of the first quarter, inventories rose 2.6 percent to $303 million, versus $295 million at the end of the year-ago quarter. "We are extremely pleased with our solid comparable store sales increase for the quarter and the performance of our new stores," said Jay Stein, Chief Executive Officer. "Our inventories are in great shape. As planned, our gross profit rate will improve as the year proceeds and our expenses will continue to leverage against our higher sales. This should be more evident beginning with our second quarter results." Stein Mart shares fell 5.09 percent to $11.00 in pre-market trading.