Unlock stock picks and a broker-level newsfeed that powers Wall Street.
Five Below Inc (FIVE) Q1 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
Logo of jester cap with thought bubble.
Logo of jester cap with thought bubble.

In This Article:

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Five Below Inc (NASDAQ: FIVE)
Q1 2019 Earnings Call
Jun 5, 2019, 4:30 p.m. ET

Contents:

  • Prepared Remarks

  • Questions and Answers

  • Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Five Below, Inc. First Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions) After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Christiane Pelz, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Christiane Pelz -- Vice President, Investor Relations

Thank you, Gary. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us today for Five Below's first quarter 2019 financial results conference call. On today's call are Joel Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ken Bull, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. After management has made their formal remarks, we will open the call to questions.

I need to remind you that certain comments made during this call may constitute forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to and within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Those risks and uncertainties are described in the press release and Five Below's SEC filings. The forward-looking statements made today are as of the date of this call and we do not undertake any obligation to update our forward-looking statements. If you do not have a copy of today's press release, you may obtain one by visiting the Investor Relations page of our website at fivebelow.com.

I will now turn the call over to Joel.

Joel Anderson -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Christiane, and thanks to everyone for joining us for our first quarter earnings call. I will review the highlights of the quarter before handing it over to Ken to discuss our financials and our outlook, and then we will open up the call for questions.

Q1 was another solid quarter and within the range of our expectations. Sales grew 23% to $365 million driven by continued outperformance of our new stores and a comp of 3.1% that was fairly balanced across transactions and ticket. Earnings per share increased 18% to $0.46, or $0.35 excluding tax rate favorability, which is at the high-end of our guidance range. We were especially pleased with this bottomline performance. This quarter's result is a great example of how important new stores continue to be for the Five Below model. They remain the biggest driver of our growth and we plan to open 145 to 150 locations this year.