Big Lots reports Q1 EPS $2.62, consensus $1.69

Reports Q1 revenue $1.63B, consensus $1.53B. Reports 11.3% increase in comparable sales. Bruce Thorn, President and CEO of Big Lots stated, "We have completed a record first quarter that was driven both by our underlying Operation North Star strategic initiatives and by customer response to a third round of stimulus distributions that began in March. For the quarter, we saw double digit growth across all merchandise categories other than Food and Consumables, which were greatly bolstered last year by quarantine-related stock-up spending early in the pandemic. We also saw notable strength in our Seasonal assortment, particularly lawn & garden, while Broyhill, launched just last year, drove $225 million in sales for the quarter across our Furniture and Home assortments, continuing its rapid progress toward becoming an established $1 billion brand. Additionally, our ecommerce business grew 30%, and our Rewards program reached a record high number of active members. Our outstanding results for the quarter were achieved despite significant supply chain and freight headwinds, which we expect to continue through the balance of the year. Meanwhile, we are taking other important steps to strengthen our business. These include rolling out our forward distribution center strategy to relieve pressure at our regional distribution centers and more efficiently process bulk items such as furniture; strengthening our vendor partnerships to create even greater value for our customers and improve assortment availability; and investing in data-driven space planning technology designed to enhance our customer satisfaction and per-store productivity through more relevant location- based assortments. We are excited by our results, but know that we still have many opportunities for growth and improvement across the business. Big Lots is growing in a productive and sustainable manner and we are doing so knowing that our goal is to create the best value for our customer so that she can Live Big and Save Lots. Our growth is driven by our Operation North Star, but is fulfilled by our 37,000 associates across our stores, the distribution centers, and in our home office. I am so proud to be a member of this team and I am deeply thankful for their unwavering commitment."