Sell to close the July 20, 2018  put on Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) with a strike price of $42.50 at $4.00 or higher. NOTE: Place your sell order between the bid and the ask, which may be higher than this price.  Symbol (BIG180720P42.5)

Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) reported a disastrous quarter this morning. Earnings missed the $1.18 estimate by a whopping $.23 and sales were less than expected.

Guidance for the year is cut by $.27, a cut I don’t think it nearly big enough considering how poor the current trends are. Comp sales are down 3%, but inventory per store is up 1.6%.

Despite a $100 million stock repurchase plan, the company did not buy back any stock in the first quarter, which indicates they don’t think it’s a great bargain. It continues to search for a new CEO since the retirement of David Campisi. It is unclear who is at the helm to help the company navigate these tricky times.

Big Lots call is at 8 AM this morning. Unfortunately, I will be traveling during the earnings call. Normally I try to avoid travel when I know we have an earnings event but my plans were sealed by the time the company formally announced its earnings date.

The puts closed at $3.60 last night. The stock is down $4 pre-market so I expect the puts to be up significantly this morning.