American Outdoor Brands Corp (NASDAQ:AOBC), the maker of Smith & Wesson guns, was under fire in after-hours trading after disappointing fiscal third-quarter results.
Quarterly net sales slumped to US$157.4mln from US$233.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Net income collapsed to US$11.4mln, equivalent to 21 per share, from US$32.5mln the year before (57 cents a share).
"Our results for the third quarter reflected a continuation of challenging market conditions in the consumer market for firearms,” said James Debney, the company's president and chief executive officer.
“Lower shipments in our Firearms business were driven by a reduction in wholesaler and retailer orders versus the prior year and were partially offset by double-digit revenue growth within our Outdoor Products and Accessories segment. Overall, our long-term strategy remains focused on being the leading provider of quality products for the shooting, hunting, and rugged outdoor enthusiast,” he said.
The shares lost around one-eighth of their value in screen-based trading.
American Outdoor Brands earnings out; CEO says: "...we believe that the new, lower levels of consumer firearm demand we saw reflected in the January NICS results may continue for some time." Conference call in about 45 minutes. $AOBC pic.twitter.com/OnszpAo0sd
— Bill Peters (@IBD_BPeters) March 1, 2018
There was mixed news from the retail sector, with department store group Nordstrom finding the market hard to please while fashion firm Gap's trading update got a warm reception.
Nordstrom Inc (NYSE:JWN) declined US$2.91 to US$47.57 in after-hours trading after failing to meet market expectations with its fourth-quarter numbers covering the three months to February 3.
Earnings per share of 89 cents were well short of the US$1.25 the market had been expecting.
There was some comfort for shareholders in the top-line, which grew faster than expected, with like-for-like (LFL) sales up 2.6% year-on-year (YOY), which was comfortably better than the 0.9% analysts had been expecting.
The retailer expects to clock up LFL sales growth in the current financial year of 0.5 – 1.5%.
JUST IN: Nordstrom family group is finalizing an offer to take the retailer private - Reuters$JWN shares jump more than 4% on the report. https://t.co/yq9W7gRX1B pic.twitter.com/0MGSJPeAVU
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) February 23, 2018
Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) rose 8.2% in screen-based trading to US$34.01 as traders applauded a fourth-quarter earnings and sales beat.
Earnings per share of 61 cents were a couple of cents above the consensus forecast, while net sales grew 7.9% YOY to US$4.78bn, compared to the market's expectations of US$4.68bn.
LFL sales were up 5% YOY, with its Old Navy Brand doing most of the heavy lifting, aided by Banana Republic.