On the homepage
Health care
Out There
Crimefighting
Mental health
Select Comfort profit is twice expectations
Select Comfort shares rise on quarterly profit report
Print this story
E-mail this story
Save to del.icio.us
Share on Facebook
Share on Digg
Minnesota business by the numbers
See Minnesota's top earning companies, CEOs and non-profits
More from Business
Select Comfort, which seemed near the brink of bankruptcy during the past year, reported net income Thursday that was more than double Wall Street's expectations.
Analysts had projected Select Comfort would turn in earnings of 7 cents per share, but the company produced 15 cents a share, up dramatically from 2 cents a year earlier. Net income was $6.9 million, up from $1 million.
The results, reported after the market closed, sent the stock up 6.4 percent in after-hours trading.
The company has been on a rollercoaster ride in recent months as its stock fell to an all-time low of 19 cents in December and shareholders rejected a proposal in August that would have given a private equity firm a majority interest in the bed maker.
But the company's third-quarter results Thursday showed evidence that aspects of its turnaround plan are bearing fruit. The company has shuttered 65 stores over the past year and cut costs.
Sales for the quarter that ended Oct. 3 fell by 6 percent to $147.5 million, but the company has 14 percent fewer stores. In same-store sales, Select Comfort reported 9 percent growth during the quarter.
Select Comfort, which had not released an earnings estimate in recent months, said Thursday that it expects full-year earnings of 2 to 8 cents a share.
Company CEO Bill McLaughlin said in a statement that the third-quarter results showed progress because of Select Comfort's "focus on controlling costs, building our brand for improved sales and preserving cash."
The company has received a number of short-term waivers from its lenders. It recently did a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking the ability to raise capital through a stock sale.
Select Comfort stock was flat in regular trading Thursday, closing at $5.78. But it gained 37 cents to rise to $6.15 in trading after the market closed.
Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709
Recent Business stories
Comments are temporarily unavailable
Our reader comments feature is currently undergoing maintenance. Please check back to comment on this story and join the discussion. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Blog: Patent Pending
Lights out at U energy conference. Irony police notified.
Just as Lawrence Kazmerski, a top official at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, was about to give the keynote address at the University of Minnesota's annual E3 conference at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, the lights went out, bathing the audience in darkness and a deep sense of irony.