Tractor Supply Q4 earnings slide

Tractor Supply reported fourth quarter 2017 sales increased 1.9% to $1.95 billion from $1.92 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016.

While Comp sales rose 4% for the quarter the Brentwood, Tenn.-based retailer said the prior year’s fourth quarter included an extra sales week as part of the company’s 53-week calendar in 2016, which negatively impacted the overall sales increase by approximately 6.7 percentage points.

For the year, net sales increased 7% to $7.26 billion in 2017 from $6.78 billion in fiscal 2016. Comparable store sales increased 2.7% for the year.

Tractor Supply also reported a net income of $109.7 million for the fourth quarter 2017, a 12.7% drop compared to net income of $123.6 million in the fourth quarter 2016. For the year, the company posted a net income of $422.6 million, a 3.4% slide from a net income of $437.1 million in 2016.

The company opened 27 new Tractor Supply stores and closed seven Del’s stores in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to 21 new store openings and one closure of a Del’s store in the prior year period. Additionally, in the fourth quarter of 2017, the company opened 6 new Petsense stores and had no Petsense store closures compared to 8 store openings and 1 store closure during the fourth quarter of 2016.  

For the full year, Tractor Supply opened 101 new Tractor Supply stores, converted its 2 Hometown Pet stores to Petsense stores, and closed 9 Del’s stores in fiscal 2017 as compared to 113 new store openings and 6 Del’s store closures during fiscal 2016. The Company also opened 25 new Petsense stores, including the conversion of 2 Hometown Pet stores, during fiscal 2017 and had no Petsense store closures.

Tractor Supply also said that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed last December was will have a positive impact on its effective tax rate in 2018 and subsequent years. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is expected to reduce the company’s effective tax rate in 2018 from approximately 36.7% to approximately 23.0% to 23.5%. 

As of Dec. 30, 2017, Tractor Supply operated 1,685 stores in 49 states along with 168 Petsense stores in 26 states.