BJ's Wholesale Shines As Shoppers Go Premium And Stay Loyal

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ) is surging after beating expectations and doubling down on its growth story.

• BJ stock may gain traction. See the full story here.

Stronger membership retention, booming digital demand, and a richer profit outlook have investors taking a fresh look at the warehouse retailer.

The company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.16, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.09.

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Quarterly sales of $5.348 billion outpaced the Street view of $5.347 billion.

Metrics

For the third quarter, comparable club sales rose 1.1% year-over-year. Excluding gasoline, comparable club sales increased 1.8% year-over-year, with a two-year stack of 5.5%.

Digitally enabled comparable sales jumped 30%. The two-year stacked comp growth reached 61%.

Gross profit increased to $1.01 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to $975.5 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA slumped 2.2% to $301.385 million.

Merchandise gross margin rate, which excludes gasoline sales and membership fee income, remained flat year over year.

Operating income for the third quarter fell 4.8% to $218.351 million.

“Our business continues to perform well in a volatile environment and we are maintaining an unwavering focus on what matters most: taking care of families who depend on us,” said Bob Eddy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BJ’s Wholesale Club. 

Membership fee income increased to $126.3 million in the third quarter compared to $115.0 million a year ago.

The increase was primarily driven by strength in membership acquisition, retention and higher-tier membership penetration across both new and existing clubs, as well as the increase in annual membership fees, which became effective in January 2025.

Under its existing share repurchase program, Bj’s repurchased 905,000 shares of common stock, totaling $87.3 million, inclusive of associated costs, in the third quarter. Approximately $866.2 million remained available to purchase.

Outlook

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings raised its fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS guidance to $4.30 to $4.40, up from its prior range of $4.20 to $4.35, compared with analyst expectations of $4.31.

“We are narrowing our outlook for full-year merchandise comparable club sales while increasing our outlook for adjusted earnings per share,” said Laura Felice, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Comparable club sales, excluding the impact of gasoline sales, are expected to increase 2%-3% year-over-year (prior view: 2%-3.5%).

The firm said it is on track to add seven new clubs in the fourth quarter.

Bj’s pegged the capital expenditures for fiscal 2025 at $800 million.

BJ Price Action: BJ’s Wholesale Club Hldgs shares were up 1.56% at $92.00 during premarket trading on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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