|
RadioShack tops 3Q
|
 |
October 23, 2000: 3:58 p.m. ET
Retailer cites sales of digital products; company comfortable with 4Q estimates
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Electronics retailer RadioShack reported a 29 percent increase in third-quarter earnings Monday beating Wall Street estimates by a penny thanks to sales of digital products.
RadioShack's (RSH: Research, Estimates) shares climbed $2.81 to $55.56 in late trading Monday following the news.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the Fort Worth, Texas-based chain reported net income of $77.1 million, or 39 cents a share compared with net income of $59.8 million, or 29 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call/Thomson Financial had projected earnings of 38 cents a share.
 Sales for the quarter grew to $1.14 billion from $960.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
The company cited sales of digital products such as wireless phones for the strong results.
"All year long, consumer demand for digital products has driven RadioShack's business, enabling us to achieve solid top line growth and bottom line growth in all three quarters of the year," Chairman and CEO Leonard Roberts said.
During a conference call with analysts Monday, RadioShack said it was comfortable with analysts' 75 cents a share fourth-quarter forecast. The company also said sales at stores open at least a year, a closely watched figure called same-store sales, were better than expected in October.
"We are very comfortable with the Street consensus for the fourth-quarter and for 2001," Dwayne Hughes, RadioShack's chief financial officer, said on the call. The consensus estimate is $2.18 a share for 2001.
RadioShack shares fell as much as 11 percent in morning trading after some investors were disappointed that the company didn't top the "whisper number" forecast of 40 cents, analysts said. A whisper number is an unofficial earnings estimate that circulates in the trading community and is often higher than analysts' estimates.
RadioShack is faring better than rival Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC: Research, Estimates), which warned on Friday of a third-quarter loss due to a significant decline in sales during the past four weeks.
Analysts said that although consumer electronics sales have slowed from last year's pace, Circuit City's problems are exacerbated by the fact that the chain is undergoing an ambitious three-year plan to remodel all of its stores, a process that can disrupt store traffic. 
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
|
Circuit City
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
