Ross Stores, Inc. reported that sales for the four weeks ended Oct. 31 increased 14% to $557 million from $490 million a year ago. Same store sales for the month rose 9%.
For the thirteen weeks, sales were $1.744 billion, a 12% increase over the $1.555 billion a year ago. Comparable store sales were up 8% on top of flat same store sales in the prior year period.
For the nine months, sales totaled $5.204 billion, up 10% over the $4.752 billion a year ago. Comps increased 5% on top of a 3% gain in the same period last year.
Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are very pleased with our October and third quarter performance, as both sales and margins were well ahead of our expectations. Merchandise and geographic sales trends during the month were relatively broad-based. Shoes, Dresses and Home remained the top-performing categories, while the Southwest, Southeast and California were the strongest regions.”
Balmuth continued, “We now estimate that earnings per share for the thirteen weeks ended October 31, 2009 will be in the range of $.83 to $.84, up from our prior guidance of $.75 to $.77 and compared to $.44 in the third quarter of 2008.”
