Wayfair on Tuesday said it saw its strongest growth in the U.S. and best free cash flow since the pandemic during its second quarter, as the online furniture company continues to take market share from legacy brick-and-mortar retailers.
In the three months ended June 30, sales in Wayfair’s largest market grew 8.7% to $3.1 billion – the most the region has grown since 2020
That year, the overall home goods industry surged and Wayfair’s business grew 55%. The second-quarter sales bump helped Wayfair’s profitability, as free cash flow reached $301 million during the quarter, also the strongest the company has seen since 2020. Wayfair’s stock jumped 18% in premarket trading.
In an interview with CNBC, Wayfair’s finance chief Kate Gulliver said the company is growing by taking market share, primarily from traditional brick-and-mortar competitors, as the housing market remains “stalled.” It’s also winning over more luxury consumers through its high end brand Perigold, CEO Niraj Shah said in a news release. “We saw noteworthy outperformance from our specialty retail brands, which grew by nearly 20% in the second quarter, and Perigold, which grew by more than 35%,” said Shah. “We are excited to see ramping growth in the Wayfair business and complementing that with outsized growth from our specialty and luxury brands, all building to why we expect to see even further acceleration as our numerous initiatives play out.” Here’s how Wayfair performed during the quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: – Earnings per share: 95 cents adjusted vs. 89 cents expected – Revenue: $3.52 billion vs. $3.47 billion expected Wayfair reported a loss of $1 million, or 1 cent per share, compared with a gain of $15 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for non-recurring charges like equity based compensation, Wayfair saw earnings of 95 cents per share. The home goods retailer beat Wall Street’s expectations on the top…