LE - Lands' End guidance suggests losses are set to persist
2023-03-16 07:06:33 ET
Shares of Lands’ End ( NASDAQ: LE ) traded in a volatile manner after a mixed Q4 report
For the fourth quarter, The Wisconsin-based company saw net revenue fell 4.6% year over year to $529.6M led by dips in Third Party and eCommerce sales. Gross margin decreased approximately 340 basis points to 32.5% year over year due to “industry-wide promotional activity” which was slightly offset by lower freight costs. The company reported a $0.10 per share loss for Q4 on an adjusted basis, surprising analysts that had expected $0.04 in earnings per share.
“We executed well throughout the fourth quarter to deliver sequential sales and margin improvement in each month of the quarter, resulting in revenue and adjusted EBITDA at the higher end of our expectations,” CEO Andrew McLean commented. “We are pleased to see this momentum continue in the first quarter, particularly in our core swim category.”
Inventories jumped to $425.5M as of January 27 from $384.2M at the close of January 2022. Management said that elevated inventory levels were the result of early stocking for spring and summer product.
For the first quarter ahead, the apparel retailer expects net revenue to be between $295M and $310M and a diluted loss per share to be between $0.15 and $0.09. Analysts had forecast a $289.8M in revenue and a $0.31 per share loss.
Net revenue for the full year is expected to be between $1.56B and $1.62B, in-line with the $1.59B consensus. Meanwhile a wide range for diluted earnings per share to be between an $0.18 loss and $0.03 in earnings suggested downside to the $0.01 consensus.
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Lands’ End guidance suggests losses are set to persist