Benzinga | Jan 27, 2022 07:23AM EST

Tractor Supply Q4 Earnings Surpass Estimates; Issues Upbeat FY22 Guidance

* Tractor Supply Co (NASDAQ:TSCO) reported fourth-quarter FY21 sales growth of 15.3% year-on-year, to $3.32 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $3.24 billion.

* Comparable store sales increased 12.7%, driven by comparable average ticket growth and comparable average transaction count growth of 10.3% and 2.4%, respectively. Comparable store sales increased 27.3% in 4Q20.

* EPS of $1.93 topped the Wall Street view of $1.83.

* Gross profit increased 12.6% Y/Y to $1.12 billion and the gross margin contracted 83 basis points to 33.8%.

* The operating margin was 8.83%, and operating income for the quarter rose 58.9% to $293.1 million.

* Tractor Supply held $878 million in cash and equivalents as of December 25, 2021. Net cash provided by operating activities for the twelve months totaled $1.14 billion.

* The company's quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share is payable on March 8, 2022, to shareholders of record on February 21, 2022. The dividend represents a 77% increase over the prior quarterly dividend.

* The Board also authorized a $2.0 billion increase to its existing share repurchase program, bringing the total amount approved to $6.5 billion.

* Outlook: Tractor Supply sees FY22 sales of $13.6 billion - $13.8 billion, above the consensus of $13.32 billion.

* The company expects FY22 EPS of $9.20 - $9.50, ahead of the consensus of $8.76.

* Price Action: TSCO shares are trading higher by 3.80% at $215.00 in premarket on the last check Thursday.