Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) shares tumbled more than 12% in after-hours trading on Thursday as the children’s publishing, education and media company reported a drop in revenue and a growing loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 when compared to the same period last year.
For the quarter ended August 31, 2023, it reported revenue of $228.5 million, down 13% from $262.9 million in the year-ago quarter.
This also failed to meet the Street expectation of revenue of $268.8 million, per Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Scholastic attributed the decline in revenue to continued retail softness, which impacted Trade sales in the U.S. and major international markets, in addition to the timing and seasonality of sales in Education Solutions.
Its loss excluding one-time items rose 58% year-over-year from a loss of $57.9 million to a loss of $91.7 million.
The company noted that it typically generates an operating loss during the fiscal first quarter when schools are not in session.
It said, as expected, greater seasonal losses were driven by lower sales in its Trade division and Education Solutions segment, continued investments in strategic initiatives, and planned spending ahead of expected growth in the School Reading Events business.
Scholastic shares were down 12.3% at US$34.18 shortly after the release of its quarterly results.
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