-=The Children's Place (PLCE) reported earnings on Thur 6 Dec 18 (b/o)

The Children's Place reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus

• Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $3.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $3.07; revenues rose 6.6% year/year to $522.5 mln vs the $511.19 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. This increase was primarily driven by a positive comparable retail sales increase of 9.5% and approximately $5.0 million due to the new revenue recognition rules, partially offset by an ~a $14.0 million adverse impact from the calendar shift related to the 53rd week in fiscal 2017. digital channels delivered a 38% increase, representing 29% of our net sales. 
• Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees adj. EPS of $2.07-2.17 vs. $2.64 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q4 revs of $547-552 mln vs. $567.05 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. 
• "Moving on to Q4, due to stronger than anticipated digital demand in the back-half of 2018, we were forced to accelerate online access to our brick-and-mortar inventory and our ship from store fulfillment capabilities, resulting in an anticipated incremental fulfillment cost of $5 million, or $0.24 in EPS in Q4. These capabilities allow our digital customers to access our brick-and-mortar inventory, which helped fuel high teens growth in our digital channels over the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We ended the month of November with comparable retail sales up low-single digits. Additionally, given recent competitor news*, our updated outlook also assumes the sales and margin impact of potentially significant liquidation events." *Gymboree reportedly closing half of its stores