Chewy shares soar as COVID-19 buying drove subscriptions, sales above $2B in Q4
Chewy on Tuesday reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings results, which sent its shares surging in the after-hours session.
Here are the key results for Q4 versus expectations, according to Bloomberg data:
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS): 5 cents per share vs. a loss of 9 cents per share expected
Revenue: $2.04 billion vs. $1.96 billion expected
The online seller of pet food and supplies saw net sales top $2 billion for the first time, climbing nearly 51% from a year ago to $2.04 billion. For the fiscal year, net sales jumped more than 47% to $7.15 billion. It also reported 19.2 million active customers, adding 5.7 million new customers in 2020, an increase of 42.7% from the year prior.
For the fourth quarter, Chewy delivered $21 million in net income, its first quarter of positive net income.
During an "incredibly challenging" 2020 defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, "Chewy performed exceptionally well and made significant strategic and operational progress,” CEO Sumit Singh said in a statement.
According to the shareholder letter, net sales per active customer hit $372, up 3.3% year-over-year.
In a letter to shareholders, Singh said Chewy is prepared to capitalize on three trends, including the increased number of pet-owning households during the pandemic, the opportunity to expand in healthcare and services within the massive pet market, and the continued e-commerce penetration for the pet supplies category.
“Overall, we see 2020 and the impact of COVID as much more than just a one-time growth accelerator. We see it as a catalyst that sped up the secular shift towards e-commerce that was already underway,” Singh wrote.
The CEO added that the company will focus on acquiring new customers and expanding its assortment of brands, healthcare offerings, and launching services and expanding outside of the U.S. “when the time is right.”
Shares of Chewy (CHWY) jumped more than 7% in the after-hours session after closing Tuesday up 1.95%, or $1.54, at $80.39.
Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
