Kohl’s Climbs, Inventory Management Helps Results

Retailer Kohl’s shares are on a tear, with the department store operator posting earnings per share that were better than expected as the company managed inventory turns efficiently. At this writing, the stock was up nearly 12 percent to $51 intraday Thursday (Nov. 10).

Net income for the September quarter came in at $0.80 a share, better than the $0.70 a share that analysts had been expecting for Kohl’s earnings, even as net sales were down a little more than 2 percent to $4.3 billion, which was just a bit above consensus. As Fortune noted, the firm has been managing inventory judiciously, which means that little is left on shelves that goes unsold — in fact, inventory was down 10 percent from the year-ago quarter. Same-store sales were down 1.7 percent.

And as management noted on the conference call with analysts, shoppers remain positive on the heels of a strong back-to-school season and into the all-important holiday shopping season.

Management also reaffirmed adjusted Kohl’s earnings guidance on a full-year basis to a range of $3.80–$4.00, which brackets the consensus of $3.87. And as had been reported earlier this month, Kohl’s said that it will start selling Apple Watches at 400 stores, out of a total roster of 1,100 locations by mid-month.

Subsequent to the end of the quarter on Sept. 30, the firm said it is rolling out its own mobile payments service, named Kohl’s Pay, which mandates that one of the firm’s own credit cards be used with the platform.