What Happened?

Shares of membership-only discount retailer BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ) jumped 13.2% in the afternoon session after the company wrapped up a strong fourth-quarter (fiscal 2024), exceeding analysts' expectations for EPS despite revenue coming in line with estimates. The standout metric was a 4.6% jump in comparable club sales (excluding gas), fueled by stronger foot traffic and a 26% surge in digital sales. That's a good sign customers are staying engaged. However, total sales dipped 1.5% from last year because there was one less week in the quarter. Looking ahead, BJ's full-year EPS guidance missed Wall Street's forecasts, raising concerns about margin pressures and economic uncertainty. Still this was a strong quarter.

The shares closed the day at $112.34, up 12.4% from previous close.

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What The Market Is Telling Us

BJ’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 4 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for BJ's and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 4 months ago when the stock gained 11.7% on the news that the company reported strong third-quarter 2024 results which blew past analysts' EPS expectations. Full-year EPS guidance was also raised. While sales were in line with expectations, management called out some encouraging demand indicators as it hit a milestone of 7.5 million Club members. The company also announced plans for the first membership fee increase in seven years, effective January 1, 2025. Overall, we think this was still a solid quarter with some key areas of upside, especially after Target missed badly the previous day.

BJ's is up 27.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $112.29 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of BJ’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $4,696.

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