Shares of Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL) are down 24.7% at 12:13 p.m. EDT on Oct. 18 following the apparel maker's announcement of a big downward revision in its guidance for sales and earnings for the rest of the year. Late Thursday, Gildan issued its preliminary third-quarter results and updated full-year guidance that caught investors by surprise and led to an enormous amount of activity. At this writing, more than 31 times as many Gildan shares have traded hands than during a typical trading day. And we still have almost four hours of trading remaining.
When Gildan reported second-quarter earnings on Aug. 1, it called for full-year earnings between $1.80 and $1.85 per share and revenue to grow in the mid-single-digit range. Two and a half months later, management has had to change its tune. In the preliminary third-quarter release, the company said it expects earnings of $0.51 per share for the quarter, which would be down 7% from last year's third quarter.
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