Shares of Vera Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) slid Wednesday after the designer of handbags and fashion accessories fell short of the Street’s fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates due to weak online sales.
For its latest quarter ended on November 3, the retailer posted net income of $4.2 million, or $0.12 per share, up from $400,000, or $0.01 per share in the year-ago quarter, but behind the consensus estimate of $0.16 per share. Last year’s results included $7.9 million in after-tax charges.
Its sales, meanwhile, came in at $97.7 million, falling from the $114.1 million posted in the year-ago quarter and missing the consensus estimate of $101.7 million.
Same-store sales also fell by 16.5% in the quarter, hurt by a sharp 25% drop in e-commerce sales.
Investors punished the shares, sending them down 9.5% to $9.21 in midday trading.
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“Third-quarter earnings were modestly below our expectations, primarily due to revenues at the low end of our guidance and a gross margin rate that was slightly below our guidance,” said CEO Robert Wallstrom in a statement. “Higher-than-expected shipping costs offset some of our margin expansion, which brought our overall margin rate modestly under guidance.”
Looking ahead, Vera Bradley expects revenue for the current quarter in the range of $114 million to $119 million, which fits with analysts’ estimates but comes in lower than prior year fourth-quarter revenues of $132 million.
The company also predicts full-year earnings will fall between $0.57 to $0.60 per share and its revenue will range between $412 million to $417 million.
Contact Ellen Kelleher at ellen@proactiveinvestors.com