11:06 AM EDT, 05/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Yeti Holdings ( YETI ) reported stronger-than-expected gains in first-quarter results on Thursday and upped its full-year per-share earnings target, while conservatively reiterating its sales guidance amid an uncertain environment.

Revenue rose to $341.4 million for the three months ended March 30 from $302.8 million the year earlier and topped the $333.3 million average analyst estimate on Capital IQ. Shares of the cooler and thermos maker soared 11% in Thursday trade.

Direct to consumer channel sales advanced 12% to $187.8 million, reflecting growth in both its drinkware and coolers and equipment categories. Drinkware sales climbed 13% to $214.6 million while coolers and equipment sales increased 15% to $119.9 million. Wholesale revenue gained 13% to $153.6 million.

"This performance was punctuated by our international sales mix reaching a record 19% coupled with re-acceleration in domestic growth," Chief Executive Matt Reintjes said in a statement.

Adjusted earnings per share jumped to $0.34 from $0.18 year over year and beat the Street's view of $0.24. Gross margin expanded 360 basis points to 57.1% due primarily to lower inbound freight and product costs. Adjusted gross margin expanded 450 points.

Yeti sweetened its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to between $2.49 and $2.62, compared with a prior view of between $2.45 and $2.50. The new outlook implies a year-over-year increase of 11% to 16% and compared with the $2.49 consensus view.

The updated outlook reflects "continued momentum in our gross margin improvement and the execution of our accelerated share repurchase," Reintjes said. Yeti entered into a $100 million accelerated repurchase agreement with Goldman Sachs in late February.

The company continues to forecast a 7% to 9% increase in fiscal 2024 sales over the $1.66 billion it reported for 2023. The Wall Street consensus is for sales of $1.81 billion in the ongoing year. "With the bulk of the year ahead of us, we are maintaining our topline outlook as we weigh our strong first quarter execution with the ongoing uncertainties that persist in the market," he said.

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