Dillard's 3Q Beats Street Despite Rising Clothing Costs

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) said on Friday that its third-quarter income shot up 85% as same store sales helped boost revenue and margins held steady despite higher costs for clothes.

The Little Rock, Ark.-based apparel and home furnishing retailer posted net income of $26.6 million, or 50 cents a share, compared with $14.4 million, or 22 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.

The results were much stronger than the 32-cent average estimate put forth by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue for the three months ended Oct. 29 was $1.38 billion, up slightly from $1.34 billion a year ago and just ahead of the Street’s view of $1.37 billion.

Total merchandise sales were up 4% during the quarter, while sales in comparable stores, or those open more than a year, climbed 5%, Dillard’s said.

Gross margin, which measures profitability as a percentage of merchandise sold, was unchanged year-over-year at 36.8% of sales.