=Lumber Liquidators (LL) reported earnings on Mon 31 Oct 2016 (b/o)

Lumber Liquidators misses by $0.47, beats on revs :

• Reports Q3 (Sep) loss of $0.68 per share, $0.47 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.21); revenues rose 3.4% year/year to $244.08 mln vs the $231.79 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Net sales include a comparable store net sales increase of 1.0%, which reflected a 0.5% increase in customers invoiced in comparable stores. Non-comparable store net sales increased $5.6 million over the comparable prior year period. The Company opened one new store during the third quarter of 2016.
• Gross margin was 31.4% in the third quarter of 2016, compared with 30.1% in the prior year period. The increase in gross margin was favorably impacted by the items highlighted in the attached supplemental schedule along with changes in the Company's pricing strategy, where it reduced promotional activity and the sale of clearance product from 2015 levels, and increases in the sales mix of laminates and vinyl, which generally have lower retail price points and above average gross margins.
• Cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2016 totaled $8.8 million compared with $26.7 million at December 31, 2015. At September 30, 2016, the Company had $20.0 million outstanding on its revolving credit facility, with remaining availability of $95.7 million. In August 2016, the Company increased its asset-based revolving credit facility to $150 million.
• "We are pleased with the direction of our sales performance this quarter but recognize we have work to do to restore Lumber Liquidators to growth and profitability for the long term. We continue to invest in our value proposition while focusing on execution within the business and have taken steps to strengthen our financial position. We remain committed to the strategic direction we set for the Company and believe our actions will improve our performance over time."