La-Z-Boy Incorporated reported strong fiscal Q3 results for the period ending January 25, 2025. Sales rose 4% to $522 million, with a slight operating margin increase. EPS was $0.68. Year-to-date, the company returned $90 million to shareholders, a 40% increase from the prior year.
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The Retail segment delivered an 11% sales increase, driven by same-store sales growth and the acquisition of independent La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® locations. Three new stores were opened, two stores were acquired, and one location was closed. An additional two-store acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.
Business Segment Performance
The Retail segment's written sales rose 15%, with same-store sales up 7%, driving delivered sales to $228 million. Wholesale sales grew 2% to $363 million, led by the North American La-Z-Boy brand. Joybird saw a 10% rise in written sales and a 9% increase in delivered sales to $37 million.
Melinda D. Whittington, Board Chair, President, and CEO, commented: 'Our third quarter results reflect the steady progress we have made to build a more agile business, create our own momentum, and drive growth in what is still a challenged environment. We delivered sales growth across each of our segments, punctuated by strong Retail same-store sales. This was driven by solid conversion rates, average ticket, and design sales, all of which improved again year-over-year. Additionally, within our Wholesale segment, our core North America La-Z-Boy brand continues to post sales growth and margin expansion. Our vertically integrated model reinforces the unique strength of our iconic brand and positions us to disproportionately benefit when the market rebounds.'
Looking ahead, Whittington added: 'As we look to the future, our brand, and its well-known attributes of comfort and quality, will be further supported by our expanding consumer insights. We believe this is creating a flywheel with improved innovation, strong speed to market, and improved brand reach and profitability.'
Outlook for the fourth quarter
Taylor Luebke, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated: 'Our strong written trends and sequential acceleration in our Retail and Wholesale businesses is a testament that our Century Vision strategy is enabling us to outperform the industry. Our expectation is for industry trends to remain under pressure, though we expect to continue to outpace the industry. Assuming no significant changes in tariffs, we expect fiscal fourth quarter sales to be in the range of $545-565 million and Non-GAAP operating margin to be in the range of 8.5-9.5%.'
Financial position and shareholder returns
La-Z-Boy ended the quarter with $315 million in cash and no external debt. The company generated $57 million in operating cash flow, a 19% year-over-year increase. Capital expenditures totalled $19 million, focused on new store openings and remodels. Approximately $20 million was returned to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases in the quarter.
On February 18, 2025, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share, payable on March 14, 2025, to shareholders of record as of March 4, 2025.
Conference call
La-Z-Boy will host an investor conference call on February 19, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The webcast and slides will be available on the company's website, with a replay accessible for one year.
More information:
La-Z-Boy
www.lazboy.gcs-web.com