Kohl’s CEO: ‘from a supply chain standpoint, we’re in great shape’

Shares of Kohl’s Corp (NYSE: KSS) closed just over 10% up on Thursday after the retailer reported a blowout third quarter and raised guidance for the full year.

Highlights from CEO Michelle Gass’ interview on CNBC’s ‘The Exchange’

On CNBC’s “The Exchange”, CEO Michelle Gass said Kohl’s was ready for a strong holiday season.

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From a supply chain standpoint, we’re in great shape. Our stores have great items for sales. Our season is off to a very strong start. We’ve had some spotty issues, but by and large, we have businesses that are doing really well and are in great shape from an inventory standpoint.

Kohl’s repurchased $506 million worth of its stock in Q3 and plans on buying back more in the current quarter to hit $1.3 billion for the full financial year, which, as per CEO Gass, indicates the confidence the management has in the company’s future. She added:

We had an outstanding quarter which is a testament that our efforts to reposition the company are working and setting us up for long-term profitable growth. We’re hitting our operating income level three years ahead of time. We’re hitting it this year at 8.4% to 8.5%; we guided that for 2023.

Here’s what Kohl’s Q3 earnings report tells us

Kohl’s net income printed at $243 million that translates to $1.65 per share. This compares to last year’s $12 million loss or 8 cents per share. The department store retail chain generated $4.60 billion in revenue – a significant increase from $3.98 billion in the same quarter last year.

According to FactSet, experts had forecast only 70 cents of EPS on $4.27 billion in revenue. Comparable sales came in 14.7% up on a year-over-year basis versus a 12.5% increase expected, as per the earnings press release.

For fiscal 2021, Kohl’s now forecasts sales to increase by nearly 25% – roughly in line with estimates. The retailer expects up to $7.30 in adjusted EPS, considerably above the FactSet consensus of $5.71.