Five Below heads 9% lower after earnings double but sales come up short

Five Below FIVE, +1.52% reported second-quarter earnings of $64.8 million, or $1.15 a share, up from 53 cents a share a year ago. Revenue increased to $646.6 million from $426.1 million in the same quarter in 2020. Same-store sales — an important metric in retail that removes the effect of new stores, which Five Below is adding at a record rate for the company — grew 39.2%.

Analysts on average expected earnings of $1.11 a share on sales of $658 million with same-store sales growth of more than 36%, according to FactSet. Shares closed with a 1.5% gain Wednesday at $216.05, but then plunged more than 10% in the extended session following the announcement.

For the third quarter, executives projected earnings of 23 cents to 30 cents a share on sales of $550 million to $565 million. Analysts on average were forecasting earnings of 27 cents a share on sales of $550 million.

Five Below stock has increased 23.5% so far this year, as the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.03% has gained 20.4%. The retailer had a market cap of more than $12 billion at Wednesday’s close, according to FactSet.