Shares of Bed Bath and Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) rose 16% Wednesday after the company reported its quarterly earnings. The Company hugely surpassed Wall Street’s projection of a 21% decline. It said fiscal 2019 earnings per share will be about the same as fiscal 2018’s.

In the third quarter, the Company reported earnings of USD .18 per share, barely beating out the USD .17 per share expected by analysts. This, however, compares poorly to third-quarter earnings from 2017 of USD .44 per share.

The Company’s investments into revamping its stores, digital marketplace and loyalty programs are paying off. The retailer says its ahead of its long-term goals to moderate declines in operating profit and net earnings per share. Bed Bath & Beyond expects net earnings per share to grow by 2020.

Bed Bath and Beyond’s modelling assumptions for fiscal 2018 have been updated to consider its results to date. This includes the holiday season, the continuation of trends it has been experiencing, and actions being taken in support of a stronger bias towards focusing on long-term profitability.  The Company projects net earnings per share for the full year to be about USD 2.00, beating analysts’ estimates of a profit of USD 1.57 per share.

The Company's Board of Directors announced a quarterly dividend of USD .16 per share payable on April 16, 2019, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2019.