BBWI - Bath & Body Works stock falls on soft profit forecast

Bath & Body Works ( NYSE: BBWI ) stock slipped in premarket trading on Thursday after projecting lighter than expected profits for 2023.

The specialty retailer reported $1.86, coming in $0.24 better than consensus expectations. A 4.6% decline in revenue to $2.89B also came in $80M above expectations. Inventory levels remained flat year over year.

“The team delivered better-than-expected earnings results despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, which is a testament to the strengths of this organization,” CEO Gina Boswell commented. “Our customer base responded well to our holiday season, in part powered by our loyalty program, which now exceeds 33 million members.”

She added that the company is focused on cost-cuts moving forward in order to expand margins. The company is targeting $200M in annual cost savings with over half of those savings factored into the 2023 outlook.

However, the outlook for 2023 came in far softer than expected. Management anticipates first quarter net sales to decline low to mid-single digits compared to $1.45B in 2022. First quarter earnings from continuing operations per diluted share are expected to be between $0.17 and $0.27, well below the $0.44 consensus. For the full year, an EPS forecast of between $2.50 and $3.00 projected a pullback from $3.40 in 2022, surprising the Street that had anticipated growth to $3.64.

Shares of the Ohio-based retailer fell 3.32% shortly after the print .

Read more on the activist campaign by Dan Loeb’s Third Point .

For further details see: