Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) saw its shares tumble more than 9% in premarket trading Wednesday after the company cut its annual earnings and sales forecast.
For the fiscal third quarter, the footwear retailer posted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.33, missing analyst expectations of $0.42.
Revenue for the quarter totaled $1.96 billion, also falling short of the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion.
Comparable sales grew by 2.4%, below the expected 2.76%.
Gross margin expanded by 230 basis points year-over-year.
"Our team's continued focus on execution drove positive comparable sales trends and meaningful gross margin expansion in the quarter,” said Mary Dillon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Foot Locker.
“However, our third quarter top- and bottom-line performance fell short of our expectations. Consumer spending trends softened following the peak Back-to-School period in August, and the promotional environment was more elevated than anticipated.”
For the fourth quarter of 2024, Foot Locker anticipates EPS in the range of $0.70 to $0.80, lower than the $0.95 expected by analysts.
For the full year, the company forecasts EPS of $1.20 to $1.30, down from the previous outlook of $1.50 to $1.70, and missing the consensus projection of $1.53.
The company now expects full-year sales to decline between 1% and 1.5%, a downward revision from the prior guidance of a range between -1% and +1%.
Comparable sales for the year are projected to increase by 1% to 1.5%, compared to the earlier forecast of 1% to 3% and the consensus estimate of 1.64%.
Foot Locker also cut its gross margin guidance for the full year, expecting it to fall between 28.7% and 28.8%, down from the previous range of 29.5% to 29.7% and below the consensus estimate of 29.6%.
This content was originally published on Investing.com
