What To Expect From Petco’s (WOOF) Q4 Earnings

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What To Expect From Petco’s (WOOF) Q4 Earnings

Pet-focused retailer Petco (NASDAQ:WOOF) will be reporting earnings tomorrow before the bell. Here's what to look for.

Last quarter Petco reported revenues of $1.49 billion, down 0.5% year on year, missing analyst expectations by 1%. It was a weak quarter for the company. Petco missed analyst expectations on nearly every key metric we track: revenue growth, same-store sales growth, gross margin, adjusted EBITDA, EPS, and free cash flow. We note its steep drop in GAAP operating income and EPS was thanks to a one-time $1.22 billion goodwill impairment charge.

Is Petco buy or sell heading into the earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free.

This quarter analysts are expecting Petco's revenue to grow 3.4% year on year to $1.63 billion, slowing down from the 4.2% year-over-year increase in revenue the company had recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $0.02 per share.

Petco Total Revenue
Petco Total Revenue

Majority of analysts covering the company have reconfirmed their estimates over the last thirty days, suggesting they are expecting the business to stay the course heading into the earnings. The company missed Wall St's revenue estimates twice over the last two years.

Looking at Petco's peers in the specialty retail segment, some of them have already reported Q4 earnings results, giving us a hint of what we can expect. Tractor Supply's revenues decreased 8.6% year on year, missing analyst estimates by 0.5% and National Vision reported revenues up 8% year on year, exceeding estimates by 1.4%. Tractor Supply traded up 1% on the results, and National Vision was flat on the results.

Read our full analysis of Tractor Supply's results here and National Vision's results here.

Investors in the specialty retail segment have had steady hands going into the earnings, with the stocks up on average 1.1% over the last month. Petco is down 1.5% during the same time, and is heading into the earnings with analyst price target of $3.7, compared to share price of $2.6.

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