In the Wake of a Tragedy, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Reports a Strong Third Quarter

It was a tough quarter for Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings (NASDAQ: OLLI) -- not so much from an earnings perspective but due to the loss of its CEO and founder Mark Butler. Financial performance means very little compared with the untimely passing of a successful businessman, but the executive left his company with a strong third-quarter performance.

Ollie's had solid top-line growth thanks to its expanding store network.

The stock was up over 10% in after-hours trading following the earnings release. While the quarter certainly did deliver in terms of earnings, there is still an issue with comparable-store sales. With comps declining by 1.4% in the third quarter, it represents a disquieting contrast to last year's third-quarter comps growth of 4.6%. By and large, Ollie's has been depending on new store openings to drive top line growth, while the established business seems to be showing a bit of weakness.

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Source Fool.com