Shares of Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) experienced a notable surge of around 10% on Thursday, with a further surge of 11% intra-day today, following the company's latest earnings release which exceeded consensus earnings expectations.

For the third quarter, Big Lots reported an earnings per share (EPS) of ($4.38), which was $0.30 better than the analyst's prediction of ($4.68). The company's revenue for the quarter was $1.03 billion, representing a 14.7% decrease from the previous year but aligning with the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion.

The company acknowledged that the year-over-year decline in sales was primarily due to a 13.2% decrease in comparable sales. Additionally, a net decrease in the number of stores contributed to approximately 1.5% of the overall sales decline compared to the third quarter of 2022.

Looking forward to the fourth quarter, Big Lots anticipates an improvement in comparable sales relative to the third quarter, expecting them to be in the high-single-digit negative range.