Kirkland's Profit Falls, Posts Mixed Results (KIRK)

Kirkland's, Inc. KIRK on Friday morning released financial results that missed Wall Street earnings expectations, while beating revenue estimates. Kirkland's, Inc reported that its 3rd quarter net income fell to $2.3 million, or 11 cents per share, down from $5.8 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier. The company's revenue rose slightly to $92.73 million, up from $92.39 million a year earlier. A poll of analysts conducted by Thomson Reuters showed an average Wall Street estimate of expected earnings of 12 cents per share, on revenue of $90.79 million. President and chief executive officer Robert Alderson said, “Our new store class is on schedule, and we are pleased that we will open 38 stores, which is in the upper range of our target. Importantly, we will return to net store growth during the fourth quarter. Early results suggest that this year's class of new stores will be as strong as last year's class. Kirkland's balance sheet remains solid as we ended the quarter in line with our inventory target, and we continue to be a strong cash generator with significant free cash flow expected in 2010. However, the tough comparison to last year's record earnings and robust comparable store sales, as well as the higher in-bound freight costs that we have previously discussed, presented difficult challenges. Traffic counts remained strong, but in a few of our key categories, our assortments did not convert customers at sufficient rates to achieve a comparable store sales increase for the quarter. We understand where the challenges and opportunities lie in our merchandise, and we are taking steps to achieve more consistent performance across all product categories for fiscal 2011.” Kirkland's, Inc. (KIRK) ended the previous trading session at $13.01 per share. Analysts covering the company's stock have a consensus price target of $19 per share. Read more from Benzinga's Company news.