A Gray Afternoon for 3 Stocks

Barnes & Noble Education, Chico's and Vera Bradley fall hard in Wednesday trading

Author's Avatar
Aug 30, 2017
Article's Main Image

In Wednesday trading, Barnes & Noble Education Inc.'s (BNED, Financial) stock has declined by nearly 18% on the back of the company reporting its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2018. The company posted a loss of $34.8 million, or 75 cents per share. Further, the leading provider of educational products posted revenue of $355.7 million, a 48.7% increase from the prior-year quarter. Comparable store sales decreased 2.5% from the year-ago period. Further, consolidated net loss of $34.8 million was higher than the net loss of $27.9 million in the same period last year.

In the first quarter, the company opened 24 new physical stores and completed the acquisition of Student Brands for $58.5 million. The latter should contribute more than $10 million of EBITDA.

Chico's FAS Inc. (CHS, Financial) declined 3.5% after the company reported second-quarter EPS of 18 cents on revenue of $578.6 million. Earnings came short of analyst estimates by 3 cents per share and revenue also missed expectations. For the second quarter, net sales were lower compared to $635.7 million in second-quarter 2016. Revenue decreased 9% due to an 8.4% decline in comparable sales, which is a result of lower average dollar sales as well as a decline in transaction count.

"Second quarter sales were disappointing, and we are taking decisive actions to adjust our assortments and enhance omni-channel capabilities in bellwether categories such as Jackets at Chico's and Dresses at White House Black Market,"Â President and CEO Shelley Broader said.

Shares of Vera Bradley Inc. (VRA, Financial) fell almost 10% after the company reported second-quarter EPS of 13 cents on revenue of $112.4 million, beating profit estimates by 3 cents per share and revenue expectations by $0.68 million. Revenue was down 5.7% from the prior-year quarter. The company expects third-quarter net revenues between $112 million and $117 million and gross profit in the range of 57.1% to 57.6%. Further, Vera Bradley expects selling, general and administrative expenses, as a percentage of net revenues, ranging from 50.8% to 51.3%. Finally, it projected diluted EPS in the range of 13 to 15 cents and inventory of $100 million to $110 million. For the full year, the company expects earnings between 44 cents and 50 cents per share and revenue between $460 million and $470 million.

Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned