BJ's Says Affluent Consumers Keep Spending While Middle-Income Shoppers Stall

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BJ ) stock fell Friday even after the warehouse retailer reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street estimates, fueled by strong membership growth, accelerating digital sales and resilient demand from higher-income shoppers. The company reaffirmed its full-year outlook and struck a confident tone on the earnings call, highlighting market share gains, aggressive long-term investment plans, and continued momentum in newer markets such as Texas despite ongoing pressure on lower-income consumers. BJ’s Wholesale Strong Quarterly Earnings Beat The company reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.10, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.03. Quarterly sales of $5.529 billion outpaced the Street view of $5.396 billion. Comparable club sales increased 6.3% year over year, while comparable club sales excluding gasoline sales rose 1.5%. Adjusted EBITDA jumped 4.3% year over year to $298.07 million. Membership Growth And Margin Performance In the quarter under review, membership fee income increased by 9.9% year-over-year to $132.4 million. Gross profit increased to $1.03 billion compared to $969.5 million in the first quarter of ... Full story available on Benzinga.com