Kohl's Stock Jumps 20% After Reporting Best Sales Performance in 4 Years

Kohl's stock jumped 20% on Thursday after the retailer reported its best comparable sales performance in four years.

CEO Michael Bender told CNBC the quarter marked the company "knocking on the door of growth."

"We showed that we are managing the business with great discipline, strong expense management, our inventory is much cleaner than it's ever been and the balance sheet continues to show strength," Bender said.

The retailer said its net sales decreased 1.7% and its comparable sales slid 1.1% in its fiscal first quarter as it aims to turn around its business and regain market share. In the prior quarter, Kohl's reported that comparable sales dropped 2.8% from the previous year.

Here's how the company performed in its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Loss per share: 13 cents vs. 19 cents expected

Revenue: $3 billion vs. $2.99 billion expected

For the period ended May 2, Kohl's reported a net loss of $14 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $15 million, or 13 cents per share, the year prior. Revenue declined from $3.05 billion to $3 billion.

Kohl's reaffirmed its full-year outlook, expecting net sales and comparable sales to be in a range of down 2% to flat. It expects adjusted earnings per share of between $1 and $1.60.

"We're not done," Bender told CNBC on Thursday. "I think it's really important to underscore that as well, that we love the trajectory of where things are headed, but we know we still have a lot of work ahead of us."

Bender said the retailer saw "meaningful improvement" in its Kohl's card customer as well as its proprietary brand. Because the company's main audience is lower- and middle-income shoppers, Bender said pressures like high gas prices and sustained inflation are affecting Kohl's strategy.

"There are families [that] are sitting around the kitchen table right now, trying to make life work, particularly amid the backdrop context of higher energy prices, labor market challenges, and it just means that we have to continue to lean into value more and more and more," Bender said.

The company is also working on improving the store experience and managing inventory to help customers find what they want with more ease.

Kohl's has been struggling with declining sales, coupled with macroeconomic pressures, leading the stock to dive more than 35% this year as of Wednesday's market close.

The company also confirmed to CNBC that it has applied for tariff refunds and is eligible for roughly $190 million in returns, though Kohl's has not yet received any money back.