BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ) ZACKS·2025-03-04 15:10Core Viewpoint - BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. is expected to report a slight decline in revenue and a significant decrease in earnings per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, with revenues estimated at 5.35 billion, which represents a 0.1% decrease from the prior year's figure [1]. - The earnings per share estimate has increased slightly to 88 cents, but this still suggests a year-over-year decline of 20.7% [2]. Membership and Sales Growth - BJ's Wholesale is focusing on simplifying product assortments, enhancing marketing and merchandising, and expanding into high-demand categories, which is expected to contribute to a 6.3% increase in membership fee income for the quarter [4]. - Merchandise comparable club sales are anticipated to rise by 2.8% for the quarter, driven by better pricing, private-label offerings, and digital solutions [5]. Cost and Margin Challenges - The company is facing challenges such as cautious consumer spending and a projected 4.2% increase in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses, which may lead to an operating margin contraction of 80 basis points [6]. Earnings Prediction Model - The Zacks model indicates a likelihood of an earnings beat for BJ's Wholesale, supported by a positive Earnings ESP of +4.28% and a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) [7][8].