Drugstore.com, Inc. (NASD: DSCM), a leading online provider of health, beauty, vision, and pharmacy products, recently reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 28, 2008. The company reported an 8.5 percent year-over-year increase in quarterly sales to $87.8 million and a net loss of $3.6 million, or a loss of $0.04 per share. Healthy sales of over-the-counter (OTC) orders fueled the sales gain for the quarter.
Along with the increase in sales, the company achieved record gross margins for the third quarter of 28.6 percent, a solid gain of 90 basis points compared to the year-earlier period. For the fourth quarter of 2008, the company is targeting net sales in the range of $94 million to $99 million with net income ranging from $400,000 to $1.9 million, and adjusted EBITDA falling in the $5.3 million to $6.8 million range.
Dawn Lepore, chairman and chief executive officer, commented on the earnings stating, “Despite the challenging economic environment, I am pleased with our revenue growth and margin expansion in the third quarter. Specifically, our core OTC revenue grew over 12 percent, our Beauty.com business grew over 32 percent and our vision business increased 5 percent.”
Ms. Lepore concluded, “We are confident in our long term strategy and future success. Clearly, we are benefiting from the substantial changes that we have made over the last couple of years, which has improved our position in this economic environment. We expect GAAP profitability in fourth quarter and expect to deliver adjusted EBITDA that is the highest in our company’s history.”
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