This Tuesday Blue Nile, Inc., the leading online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, reported financial results for its first quarter ended April 1, 2012.
The Seattle-based company said its first-quarter sales rose 3.6 percent from a year ago to $83.1 million, putting it back in positive territory after a 2.1 percent slide in the prior three-month period. Analysts expected revenues of $82.30 million for the quarter. The company also said its number of new customers grew by 20 percent year over year.
While it posted a narrow profit of $154,000 or $0.01 per share, down from $2.4 million or $0.16 per share last year in the same period.
Significant drop of net profit is attributed to large-scale investments to development at the US and international markets, made in the period in report.
"We are pleased with our return to growth in revenue, as well as the increasing momentum we gained from the fourth quarter in attracting new customers to Blue Nile. In January, we launched a plan to accelerate growth in the business through increased investments in the U.S. and international markets. As expected, our financial results reflect the costs of these investments in reduced profitability versus a year ago", said Harvey Kanter, Chief Executive Officer.
Meanwhile, investors were pleased with Blue Nile's performance, and the stock surged nearly 8 percent in after-hours trading. Before the earnings release, shares closed down $1.78, or 6.1 percent, to $27.28. But the stock gained all of that back after hours, rising nearly 8 percent to $29.45.
Olga Patseva, Editor in Chief of the American Bureau, Rough&Polished
