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Burlington store exterior
(John Greim/Getty Images)
bargain blowout

Burlington shares soar after the off-price retailer smashes Q4 estimates

The New Jersey retailer buttoned up big sales numbers as consumers kept bargain hunting.

Nia Warfield

Shares of Burlington Stores jumped nearly 12% Thursday morning after the retailer delivered a blowout Q4 earnings report.

Sales climbed 5% to $3.27 billion for the quarter, in line with analyst expectations, while adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.13, easily topping estimates of $4.07, according to FactSet. But the star of the show was same-store sales, which surged 6%, crushing the company’s initial 0% to 2% guidance.

The New Jersey-based off-price retailer, which sells apparel and home goods at up to 60% off full retail prices, also saw full-year net income jump 48% to $504 million. Burlington credits its recent store expansion strategy as a key growth driver. The company opened 101 net new stores last year and relocated 31 older, oversized locations. The company is targeting 500 net new store openings between 2024 and 2028.

Looking ahead, Burlington expects total sales growth between 6% and 8% for fiscal 2025. CEO Michael O’Sullivan noted that while “the outlook for 2025 is very uncertain” as consumer spending potentially slows, the company’s off-price model is well suited for that environment. Shares of Burlington are up nearly 30% over the past year.

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Retail traders are “skipping the dip” this time

Here’s one noteworthy feature of the recent market downturn that has the S&P 500 poised for its worst week since reciprocal tariffs were announced in early April: retail traders seemingly aren’t eager to buy the weakness in single stocks the way they used to be.

JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain has flagged that retail traders instead appear to be “skipping the dip.”

“In contrast to the behavior observed during the post-Liberation Day selloff, retail investors did not seize the opportunity to buy-the-dip on Tuesday, with a few exceptions such as META,” he wrote of the day where the benchmark US stock index fell 1.2%. “In fact, they scaled back their ETF purchases and turned net sellers in single stocks.”

Then on Thursday, when the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, Jain projected that retail traders sold $261 million in single stocks. Through noon ET on Friday, his daily outflow estimate stands at $851 million.

With that intel, it’s little wonder why the carnage this week has been particularly intense in more speculative single stocks that had been favored by the retail community, including IREN, IonQ, Rigetti, Cipher Mining, Bloom Energy, and Oklo.

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Archer Aviation plunges on $650 million share sale following its third-quarter results

Air taxi maker Archer Aviation is deep in the red on Friday morning after reporting its third-quarter results after the bell Thursday. The stock is down more than 12%.

Investors don’t appear to be thrilled about the company’s $650 million direct stock offering, announced alongside its results.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

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