Chico's FAS, Inc. (NYSE:CHS) Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call February 28, 2023 8:00 AM ET

Company Participants

David Oliver - SVP, Finance, Controller & Chief Accounting Officer

Molly Langenstein - President & CEO

PJ Guido - CFO

Conference Call Participants

Dana Telsey - Telsey Group

Marni Shapiro - Retail Tracker

Operator

Welcome to Chico's FAS Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year End 2022 Conference Call and Webcast. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Please note this call is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the call over to Corporate Controller, David Oliver. Mr. Oliver, please go ahead.

David Oliver

Good morning, and welcome to the Chico's FAS fourth quarter and fiscal year end ‘22 conference call and webcast. For reference, our earnings release can be found on our website at www.chicosfas.com under Press Releases on the Investor Relations page.

Today's comments will include forward-looking statements regarding our current expectations, assumptions, plans, estimates, judgments and projections about our business and our industry, which speak only as of today's date. You should not unduly rely on these statements.

Important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those projected or implied by our forward-looking statements are included in today's earnings release, our SEC filings and the comments made on this call. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any information discussed on this call, except as may be otherwise required by law.

Certain non-GAAP measures may be referenced in today's call. A GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation schedule is included in our earnings release, presentation posted this morning on the Chico's FAS Investor Relations page.

Now, I'll turn the call over to our CEO and President, Molly Langenstein.

Molly Langenstein

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. We achieved strong results across all key financial metrics in fiscal 2022. We delivered strong store and digital sales growth, meaningful gross margin expansion and solid expense leverage, which produced outstanding operating income, cash flow and earnings per share. These results demonstrate the power of our three brands and our product performance and reflect our team's steadfast commitment to our four strategic pillars of being customer led, product obsessed, digital first and operationally excellent.

Q4 finished strong. Revenue and EPS exceeded the patients that we provided in early January after the nine week holiday selling season. Actual fourth quarter sales came in $9 million higher than the high-end of our projected range and EPS exceeded the high end of our expectations due to strong January performance. Across all three brands, customers responded to new spring product offerings which drove full price selling in the quarter.