Zumiez Inc. (ZUMZ), a leading specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories, reported better-than-expected same-store sales in Feb 2010. Consequently, Zumiez’s shares jumped more than $3.75 to $19.78 in early morning trade on the Nasdaq.
Total net sales for the four-week period ended Feb 27, 2010 increased 19.6% to $27.6 million, compared to $23.1 million in the year-ago period. Zumiez’s comparable store sales increased 11.2% during Feb 2010 versus a comparable store sales decrease of 13.4% in the same period in the previous year.
The improved sales result of Zumiez indicates stabilization of the overall action sports category. Industry experts further anticipate continued sales improvement in the coming months as inventories remained lean and sales of high-margin accessories had improved recently.
Zumiez is scheduled to report its fourth quarter and fiscal 2009 year-end results on Mar 11, 2010. The current Zacks Consensus estimate for fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 is 27 cents. Estimates appear to be trending up, with a year-over-year growth of 28.6%.
Of the 15 analysts covering the stock, 4 have increased estimates in the last 30 days. With respect to earnings surprises, the stock has moved up significantly over the last four quarters in the range of 11%-46%. The average remained positive at 25.8%. This implies that Zumiez has surged ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 25.8% on an average over the last four quarters.
The upswing in the earnings estimates primarily stems from the robust comparable sales for the past three months. The stock currently has Zacks #3 Rank. This implies that Zumiez is anticipated to perform in line with the broader market.
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