Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) early Thursday [Mar 2, 2017 | 6:54am] posted better than expected fourth-quarter earnings results and offered an optimistic outlook for 2017, as demand remains robust for its off-price merchandise.

Written by StockNews.com

The Florence, NJ-based discount apparel and home goods retailer reported adjusted Q4 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.78, which was $0.07 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.71.

Revenues rose 9.4% from last year to $1.69 billion, also topping analysts’ view for $1.66 billion.

Looking ahead, BURL forecast Q1 EPS of $0.67 to $0.70, which could miss Wall Street’s current $0.70 estimate.

For the full year 2017, however, Burlington’s outlook was better than expected. It expects 2017 EPS to range from $3.77 to $3.87, while analysts are looking for $3.76 per share for the year. The company’s 2017 revenue forecast of $5.98 to $6.04 billion was also ahead of the consensus view of $5.94 billion.

Additionally, Burlington said that comparable store sales (“comps”) should increase in the range of 2% to 3% in 2017. Comps are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s health, since they only measure the year-over-year performance of stores open at least 12 months.

The company commented on its successful year via press release:

Tom Kingsbury, Chief Executive Officer stated, “We are very pleased that we ended the year on a high note, continuing our favorable momentum from the first three quarters of 2016. For the year, we delivered 9.2% total sales growth, a 100 basis point expansion in Adjusted EBITDA margin rate, and a 40% increase in Adjusted Net Income per Share. In addition, we ended the year with reductions in both comparable store and aged inventories. I want to thank our entire organization for their contributions to our strong results.”

Burlington Stores Inc. shares rose $1.32 (+1.49%) in premarket trading Thursday. Year-to-date, BURL has gained 4.64%, versus a 7.27% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

BURL currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #4 of 67 stocks in the Fashion & Luxury category.