=Party City (PRTY) reported earnings on Thur 9 March 17 (b/o)

Party City beats by $0.02, misses on revs; guides FY17 EPS in-line, revs in-line:

• Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.76 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.74; revenues fell 4.2% year/year to $749 mln vs the $758.24 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Brand comparable sales decreased 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2016 due to a two-day Halloween shift from Saturday to Monday, which impacted adult participation in the holiday.
• Co issues in-line guidance for FY17, sees EPS of $1.23-1.30 vs. $1.27 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY17 revs of $2.35-2.45 bln vs. $2.41 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
  • Sees brand comparable sales growth of 1% - 1.5%
• "Our performance in 2016 demonstrates the resiliency of our business, the repeat purchase nature of our Everyday product categories, and the strength of our unique vertical model. Despite an unfavorable calendar shift affecting Halloween, our most important holiday, we were able to deliver our 7th straight year of record revenues in constant currency as a result of our diversified revenue model that reaches across multiple channels. We are pleased that 2016 was also our 16th consecutive year of record EBITDA, which has been driven by consistently growing our share of shelf1 and continually increasing our operational efficiencies."