La-Z-Boy says furniture industry to 'remain challenged,' but with some seasonal boost

Shares of La-Z-Boy Inc. (LZB) rose nearly 2% in the extended session Tuesday after the home-furniture maker reported fiscal first-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations and said that it expects its industry "to remain challenged" with some improvement around the holidays. La-Z-Boy earned $27.5 million, or 63 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $38.5 million, or 89 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted for one time items, the company earned 62 cents a share. Sales fell 20% to $482 million, as last year's quarter benefited from pandemic-related backlog deliveries, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted EPS of 55 cents a share on sales of $475 million. Given "the overall macro-economic environment, we expect the furniture market to remain challenged," La-Z-Boy Chief Executive Melinda Whittington said in a statement. "However, we are expecting some improvement in the back half of our fiscal year consistent with historic seasonality of consumers' furniture purchases." The company guided for fiscal second-quarter sales of $490 million to $510 million, versus FactSet consensus of sales of $507 million.

-Claudia Assis

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08-22-23 1657ET

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