Bed Bath & Beyond’s Profit, Sales Surge

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., the largest U.S. housewares retailer, said fiscal second-quarter earnings climbed 29% after the company opened more stores and customers snapped up bedding, dinnerware and lamps.

Net income jumped to $97.2 million, or 32 cents a share, from $75.5 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier, the Union, N.J.-based company said.

Revenue in the period ended Aug. 30 jumped 23% to $1.11 billion, bolstered by the purchase of the Christmas Tree Shops chain of 23 stores in the Northeast.

Sales at stores open at least a year -- a key retailing barometer -- rose 5.9%. The company had forecast of a 5% gain.

Bed Bath & Beyond is taking sales from department stores by selling items such as can openers, hair dryers and pillows.

The company ended the quarter with 514 stores, or 81 more than a year earlier.

The results were released after the market closed. Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond rose as high as $40.50 in after-hours trading on Nasdaq after closing at $39.42, down 77 cents. They had risen 14% this year.

The company raised its full-year profit forecast by 2 cents to $1.25 a share.

The company expects same-store sales to increase as much as 5% in the third quarter.