Shares of Big Lots soared after the company posted better-than-expected earnings and comparable sales Friday morning.
The discount retailer reported earnings of 82 cents a share on $1.31 billion in revenue. Wall Street had expected Big Lots to post earnings of 70 cents a share on revenues of $1.30 billion, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Separately, the company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of 21 cents per share to be paid on June 24.
The stock was up more than 14 percent.
For the first quarter, Big Lots saw comparable store sales increase by 3 percent. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected sales growth of 2.2 percent.
Big Lots also raised its guidance and now sees adjusted earnings of $3.35 to $3.50 per share for the full year. The retailer had previously forecast earnings of $3.20 to $3.35 for fiscal 2016.
Shares of Big Lots are up more than 31 percent this year.