Sears Badly Misses Earnings Estimates

Sears Holdings Corporation SHLD reported earnings this morning that missed Wall Street estimates by a wide margin, as the company said it was hurt by the lack of a appliance rebate program. The company reported a loss of $1.58 per share. Excluding items, the company lost $1.39 per share on revenues of $9.71 billion. This is down 3% from the same quarter last year. Wall Street had been expecting a loss of 99 cents per share on $9.73 billion in revenues. "Our first quarter was adversely impacted by unfavorable weather, economic pressures facing our customers, and comparisons to last year's government-sponsored stimulus program relating to the purchase of appliances. However, we also fell short on executing with excellence. We cannot control the weather or economy or government spending. But we can control how we execute and leverage the potent set of assets we have," said Lou D'Ambrosio, Sears Holdings' Chief Executive Officer and President. "We are taking actions intended to leverage our suite of assets, including extending our leadership position in appliances, capitalizing on the scope of our portfolio and marquee brands such as Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, and Lands' End, extending our lead in home services, revitalizing our Sears' apparel business and delivering an extraordinary customer experience at the store, online and in home. Everything will begin and end with the customer experience. These actions will be complemented with effective expense management and operational excellence." Shares of Sears Holdings closed at $75.85 yesterday.