“We estimate that extra week will add about $1.7 billion in sales and result in about 30 basis points of operating margin rate leverage on the quarter.”

In context

“n this metric over the last couple of quarters, and we're focused on continuing that momentum in the years ahead. Now I'll turn to our guidance for the fourth quarter. On the top line, our expectations reflect our continued near-term caution, leading us to maintain our prior guidance for a mid-single-digit decline in Q4 comparable sales. On the bottom line, we're also maintaining a cautious posture, particularly because the fourth quarter is typically a very promotional season. As such, we're planning a wide range for our fourth quarter EPS of $1.90 to $2.60, which represents approximately flat growth to last year on the low end and growth of about 37% on the high end. I also want to note that 2023 is a 53-week year. So the fourth quarter will include an extra week of sales and profits. We estimate that extra week will add about $1.7 billion in sales and result in about 30 basis points of operating margin rate leverage on the quarter. Note that it will not affect our comparable sales as we base that calculation on periods of equal length. On top of the results, our team has already delivered through Q3, our fourth quarter guidance implies a full year EPS range that's very close to the original guidance range we provided at the beginning of the year, with a midpoint less than $0.05 from the center of the original range. That's an amazing outcome against the backdrop of a tougher-than-expected top line, and it's a testament to the tireless efforts of our team to stay nimble and successfully navigate through a volatile and unpredictable period. In fact, given how strong our profit rate performance has been so far this year, we've been getting some questions about whether we're only focused on increasing our profit rate,”