(RTTNews) - Fashion retailer Chico's Fas Inc. (CHS) on Wednesday reported that net income for the second quarter surged to $41.96 million or $0.34 per share from $26.19 million or $0.21 per share in the year-ago quarter, driven by strong comparable sales growth and gross margin expansion.
Total net sales for the quarter grew 18.4 percent to $558.72 million from $472.06 million in the same quarter last year. Total Company comparable sales were up 19.5 percent.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.25 per share on net sales of $543.90 million for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, the company expects earnings in a range of $0.11 to $0.14 per share on consolidated net sales between $495 million and $510 million. Analysts expect earnings of $0.11 per share on net sales of $508.30 million for the quarter.
For fiscal 2022, the company now projects earnings in a range of $0.79 to $0.87 per share on consolidated net sales between $2.14 billion and $2.17 billion.
Previously, the company expected earnings in a range of $0.64 to $0.74 per share on consolidated net sales between $2.13 billion and $2.16 billion.
The Street is looking for earnings of $0.71 per share on net sales of $2.15 billion for the year.
