Most consumer discretionary businesses succeed or fail based on the broader economy. This volatility leads to big swings in stock prices that have worked in their favor recently - over the past six months, the industry has returned 16.4% and beat the S&P 500 by 7 percentage points.
Higher education company Laureate Education (NASDAQ:LAUR) announced better-than-expected revenue in Q4 CY2024, with sales up 3.4% year on year to $423.4 million. On the other hand, the company’s full-year revenue guidance of $1.56 billion at the midpoint came in 3% below analysts’ estimates. Its GAAP profit of $0.62 per share was 47.6% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Building materials company Builders FirstSource (NYSE:BLDR) fell short of the market’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2024, with sales falling 8% year on year to $3.82 billion. The company’s full-year revenue guidance of $17 billion at the midpoint came in 1.7% below analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.31 per share was 4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
E-commerce software platform provider BigCommerce (NASDAQ: BIGC) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2024, with sales up 3.4% year on year to $87.03 million. On the other hand, next quarter’s revenue guidance of $82.2 million was less impressive, coming in 1.8% below analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.11 per share was 65.7% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Fast-food chain Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2024, with sales up 14.8% year on year to $328.7 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.26 per share was 11.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Communications platform-as-a-service company Bandwidth (NASDAQ: BAND) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q4 CY2024, with sales up 27% year on year to $210 million. On the other hand, next quarter’s revenue guidance of $169 million was less impressive, coming in 8.1% below analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.06 per share was significantly below analysts’ consensus estimates.
Online home goods retailer Wayfair (NYSE:W) reported Q4 CY2024 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, but sales were flat year on year at $3.12 billion. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.25 per share was significantly below analysts’ consensus estimates.
Real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE:CWK) missed Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2024 as sales rose 3% year on year to $2.63 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.48 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
Retail behemoth Walmart (NYSE:WMT) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2024, with sales up 4.1% year on year to $180.6 billion. The company expects next quarter’s revenue to be around $167.2 billion, close to analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.66 per share was 2.2% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Walmart reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results Thursday, but its guidance came in short of estimates, sending shares sharply lower.
