shares of burlington stores inc burl dropped 18 in premarket trading thursday after the discount apparel retailer reported fiscal firstquarter profit and revenue that missed expectations as lower tax refunds and cooler weather weighed on sales net income doubled to 327 million or 50 cents a share from 162 million or 24 cents a share in the yearago period excluding nonrecurring items adjusted earnings per share of 84 cents missed the factset consensus of92 cents revenue grew 107 to 214 billion just below the factset consensus of 217 billion as samestore sales growth of 4 missed expectations of a 63 rise “we had gotten off to a very strong start but then the trend fell off in march” said chief executive officer michael sullivan “we believe that this weakening in the trend was driven by two external and transitory factors – lower tax refunds and cooler weather leading up to easter” he said business as seen “a nice pickup” since midapril the company said it expects fiscal 2023 adjusted eps of 550 to 600 which surrounds the factset consensus of 594 and expects total sales growth of 12 to 14 while the factset consensus of 978 billion implies 126 growth the stock has tumbled 256 over the past three months through wednesday while the sp 500 spx has gained 37