Shares of Five Below Inc. rose more than 5% late Thursday after the discount retailer reported first-quarter profit and sales above Wall Street expectations. Five Below said it earned $49.6 million, or 88 cents a share, in the quarter, contrasting with a loss of $51 million, or 91 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2020. Sales rose to $598 million, up 64% as compared with first-quarter of 2019 and 198% as compared with first-quarter of 2020, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the retailer to report adjusted earnings of 65 cents a share on sales of $555 million. Five Below guided for second-quarter sales between $640 million and $660 million, and EPS between $1.01 and $1.13. The stock ended the regular trading day down 1.2%.
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