NEW YORK – Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) Wednesday said its third-quarter earnings rose 21 percent on strong demand for its household products.
Net income for the quarter ended Nov. 27 rose to $121.9 million, or 40 cents per share, compared with $100.5 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts on average predicted the company would post earnings of 39 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
The Union, N.J.-based home goods retailer, which operates 640 Bed Bath & Beyond stores and owns the Christmas Tree Shops (search) and Harmon Stores (search) chains, said its net sales for the quarter were about $1.3 billion, up 11.1 percent from a year earlier.
Third-quarter comparable store sales grew 3.1 percent, the company said in a news release.
Bed Bath & Beyond also announced that its board of directors had approved a $350 million share repurchase program. The buybacks begin effectively Wednesday and will likely be completed within about 12 months, the company said.
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