Big Lots Q3 Sales Drop

Third quarter sales at Big Lots were down nearly 10% as the discount retailer’s forecast shows ongoing challenges in the fourth quarter.

Total sales for the 13-weeks ended Oct. 29 were $1.204 billion, down 9.8% from sales of $1.336 billion in the comparable quarter the previous year. Comparable store sales were down 11.7% and the company reported a net loss of $103 million compared to a net loss of $4.3 million in the third quarter of 2021. 

"The third quarter marks another quarter in which we met the challenges of a tough environment head on and did what we said we would do,” said Bruce Thorn, president and CEO of Big Lots. “Our sales and gross margin were in line with guidance and, importantly, year-over-year inventories continued to come down materially.”

Thorn noted that while the retailer is operating in a challenging macroeconomic environment, he remains enthusiastic about the opportunity to provide even more value for our customers. 

“We will continue to transform our business by offering customers amazing deals and more exciting assortments, which are easier to find and more convenient to shop,” he said. “We will find more ways to be efficient with a continued focus on growing margin, reducing expenses, and making highly disciplined investment decisions."

For the fourth quarter, the company expects comps to be down in the low-double-digit range. This includes the impact of additional markdowns related to accelerated store closures and continued efforts to clean up slow-moving inventory. Given an atypically wide range of outcomes, the company is not providing EPS guidance at this point.