Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) offered upbeat financial guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 after reporting growth in December same-store sales driven by Kmart. The company stated that fourth-quarter earnings is expected between $385 million and $465 million, or $3.36 to $4.06 per share, excluding extraordinary items. The guidance is well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.61 per share derived from 7 covering analysts.

Shares of Sears Holdings have surged more than 13% in morning trading to reach $101.04 on the Nasdaq.

Sears also stated that for the full fiscal 2009, earnings before extraordinary items are expected to be in the range of $190 million to $270 million, or between $1.61 and $2.29 per share, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.27 per share. Sears recorded adjusted earnings of $215 million, or $1.69 per share in the year-ago period. Moreover, the company expects operating income for fiscal 2009 to be in the range of $665 million to $755 million, while adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) is expected between $1.72 billion and $1.83 billion.

The company also reported a 0.4% year-over-year growth in same-store sales for December. The increase was primarily driven by a 5.3% growth in Kmart stores, partially offset by a 4.3% decline in Sears stores. Year to date, overall same-store sales declined 5.2%, as Kmart and Sears stores declined by 0.7% and 8.8%, respectively.

Sears also said that it expects to end fiscal 2009 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.7 billion, compared to $1.2 billion at the end of fiscal 2008. During the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, Sears bought back 0.9 million shares for a total consideration of $66 million and currently has $582 million remaining under its share repurchase program.

Sears is the fourth largest broadline retailer in the U.S. and offers home appliances, tools, lawn and garden equipment, electronics, apparels, automotive repair and maintenance products through a countrywide network of approximately 3,900 retail stores. The Illinois-based company’s brands include Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, Lands’ End, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer.
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