Chewy’s Customers Spent More, Giving Pet Supplies Retailer Big Profit Boost

Chewy (CHWY) shares surged Wednesday as the online pet supplies retailer posted a much better-than-expected profit as it set a record for customer spending.

The company reported second-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.68, $0.66 more than the average of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha. Revenue rose 2.6% year-over-year to $2.86 billion, in line with forecasts.

While total active customers declined 1.8% to 20.0 million, net sales per active customer rose 6.2% to $565, an all-time high. Sales by customers who have their orders shipped automatically rose 5.8% to $2.24 billion.

CEO Highlights ‘Deeper Customer Engagement’

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sumit Singh said the results showed that the company’s “compelling value proposition is driving broader and deeper customer engagement.”

Shares of Chewy had a volatile summer when it was revealed that meme stock hero “Roaring Kitty,” a.k.a. Keith Gill, had a 6.6% stake in the company. They rose 11% to $28.78 about 20 minutes after the opening bell Wednesday and are up more than 20% this year.