:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2157345168-63caf3f6455d4af99ba8f938c44314ab.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,1024&ssl=1 "Bath & Body Works Offered a ‘Prudent’ Outlook. Its Shares Are Falling")
Key Takeaways
- Bath & Body Works expects net sales to fall between 2% and 4% this year, worse than its previously offered guidance.
- CEO Gina Boswell called the lower range “prudent” amid challenging consumer spending trends.
- The retailer also missed expectations with its second-quarter net sales.
Bath & Body Works (BBWI) shares sank after the company slashed its 2024 guidance and missed expectations with its second-quarter sales.
The body and fragrance product retailer on Wednesday said it expects net sales to fall between 2% and 4% from $7.43 billion in 2023. A quarter earlier, the company offered a range of down 2.5% to flat.
“As we look forward to the rest of the year, we are taking a prudent approach to our outlook and adjusting our full-year guidance given the choppier macroeconomic environment and first half sales trends,” CEO Gina Boswell said.
The company’s shares were recently down 6%, extending year-to-date losses in excess of 20%. Bath & Body works upped the amount it expects to spend on share repurchases this year by $100 million, to $400 million.
In the second quarter, Bath & Body Works saw net sales fall 2.1% to $1.5 billion, short of the Visible Alpha analyst consensus. Its diluted earnings per share were 68 cents, up from 43 cents in the year ago quarter and above expectations.
“While customers continue to be cautious and value-seeking, their response to our newness and innovation has been positive,” said Boswell.
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