Gymboree Corporation (NASDAQ:GYMB) saw sales rise 4% in the fiscal fourth quarter and expects mid single digit sales growth in the first quarter.

Gymboree is a specialty children’s retailer operating 629 Gymboree stores, 140 Gymboree Outlet stores, 119 Janie and Jack shops and 72 Crazy 8 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The company is rapidly expanding the Crazy 8 brand as it plans to open 28 Crazy 8 stores in the fiscal 2010 first quarter. That would bring the total stores to 100. By comparison, when I reviewed Gymboree in July 2009, the company operated just 38 stores.

Gymboree Surprised Yet Again

On Mar 10, Gymboree released preliminary fourth quarter results and beat the Zacks Consensus by 1 cent. Earnings per share were $1.11.

Sales rose 4% to $299.6 million from $288.7 million in the year ago quarter. Comparable store sales, however, did decline 2% year over year.

Gross profit rose to 46.7% of net sales compared to 43% in the year ago period.

Full Year Zacks Consensus Estimates Climb

The company is forecasting comparable store sales in the mid single digits range for the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

Given that optimistic forecast and the fourth quarter results, analysts have been moving to raise estimates.

In just the last week, 2 estimates moved higher for the full year as the Zacks Consensus rose to $3.81 from $3.79 per share.

Analysts expect earnings growth of 11.7% in fiscal 2010.

Value Fundamentals

Gymboree is now a Zacks Rank #2 (buy) stock. It still has an attractive value forward P/E which is just 13.6, easily qualifying it for a value stock.

However, it’s price-to-book ratio has jumped to 3.6, which is a little pricey compared to the P/B ratio when I did my prior updates on the company.

The company’s 1-year return on equity (ROE) is still a stellar 26.2%, easily surpassing the industry average of just 7.99%.

Read the Jan 25 article.

Update to Previous Value Zacks Rank Buy Stocks

Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON) saw improvement in the fourth quarter over the year ago period and recently raised 2010 guidance. It has surprised on earnings by an average of 8.3% over the last 4 quarters. Read the full article.

TAL International Group Inc. (NYSE:TAL) recently restarted its dividend as trade volumes showed improvement over the year ago period as the global recovery took hold. Read the full article.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE:EAT) is managing its way through a rocky restaurant environment. The company has surprised on estimates the last 4 quarters by an average of 18.6%. Read the full article.

American Italian Pasta Company (AIPC) has seen earnings jump as more consumers stay home to eat during the recession. AIPC has surprised on the Zacks Consensus Estimate 4 quarters in a row by an average of 21.05%. Read the full article.

Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Value Trader service.

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