At Home's stock sinks after results weren't good enough to extend record rally

Shares of home decor superstore chain At Home Group Inc. tumbled 9.4% in afternoon trade Wednesday, as better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results weren't enough to extend gains further into record territory. At Home reported late Tuesday net income that rose to $9.3 million, or 15 cents a share, from $6.3 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came in at 18 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 17 cents. Revenue grew to $232.1 million from $188.4 million, above the FactSet consensus of $227.1 million, as same-store sales growth of 7.8% topped expectations of a 4.8% rise. Gross margin declined to 31.5% from 32.9%. The company raised its fiscal 2018 outlook sales to $916 million to $923 million from $906 million to $913 million, while keeping its adjusted EPS outlook intact at 73 cents to 75 cents. Analyst David Magee at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey said the results' negatives include gross margin and the fact that the full-year EPS outlook didn't change despite the second-quarter outperformance. The stock, which closed Tuesday at a record of $25.63, has soared 25.5% over the past three months while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has lost 0.8% and the S&P 500 has gained 1.6%.

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