Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) Declines on Guidance Update

Shares of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) are in the red in after hours on Tuesday after the company provided a business update for the first quarter ended April 1, 2017. For the period, Tractor Supply net sales rose 6.6% year-over-year to $1.56 billion while comparable sales inched lower by 2.2%. Due to those factors, Tractor Supply anticipates net income per diluted share to come in between $0.45-$0.46 per share. Some traders may have sold Tractor Supply because Wall Street was expecting somewhere around $0.53 per share.

Despite the soft guidance, management is still optimistic. Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) CEO Greg Sandfort said, ‘”Weather can influence the demand for certain products, and while we had a challenging quarter with respect to sales and margin, our business is more accurately assessed by the halves, not the quarters. We believe seasonal merchandise sales will improve as we move further into the spring selling season. We have a solid core business that is focused on a dedicated lifestyle customer who depends upon us for the products they need. Despite the challenging start to the fiscal year, we believe there is significant business ahead of us. We are excited about our upcoming merchandise initiatives and the continued execution of our cross-channel, customer centric growth strategy, which includes the recent expansion of Neighbor’s Club and Buy Online Pick Up In Store’.

What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

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According to our data, although the number of elite funds holding Tractor Supply fell quarter-over-quarter, the amount held increased substantially. Of the 742 elite funds we track, 31 funds owned $871.42 million of Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) and accounted for 8.80% of the float on December 31, versus 25 funds and $475.38 million respectively on September 30. Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management was among the funds that increased its stake, raising its holdings by 8% quarter-over-quarter to 827,000 shares.

The Bottom Line

Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) shares have dipped in after-hours due to a disappointing guidance update. For more reading, check out ‘10 Easiest Farm Crops To Grow‘.

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