Bath & Body Works' Q2 EPS Manages To Beat, But Sales Stumble – CEO Promises To Navigate Retail Storms

Bath & Body Works, Inc. BBWI shares are trading lower on Wednesday.

The company reported the second quarter adjusted earnings per share of 37 cents, beating the analyst consensus of 36 cents.

Quarterly sales of $1.526 billion (down 2.1%) missed the street view of $1.543 billion.

“We are leveraging our agile business model to navigate the dynamic retail environment. We are poised to meet their demand through our good, better, best assortment, which offers exceptionally crafted products and fragrances at price points for everyone,” Gina Boswell, CEO of Bath & Body Works, said.

The company’s second-quarter results included a $39 million pre-tax gain ($25 million net of tax of $14 million) related to the sales of certain Easton investments and a $44 million tax benefit (related to the release of a valuation allowance on a deferred tax asset).

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Bath & Body Works exited the quarter with cash and equivalents of $514 million. The company’s inventories as of quarter end totaled $863 million, with long-term debt of $3.88 billion.

“The strength of our high-margin business model and strong cash flow generation enables us to continue investing in our key initiatives, while at the same time returning cash to shareholders through dividends and planned share repurchases,” Boswell added.

Outlook: Bath & Body Works anticipates that its net sales for FY24 will decline between 4% and 2%, down from the previous forecast range of a 2.5% decline to no change. The company has also revised its adjusted EPS forecast to between $3.06 and $3.26, compared to the estimate of $3.26.

The company’s full-year guidance includes the anticipated impact of $400 million of cash deployed towards share repurchases, which is an increase from the prior expectation of $300 million.

Bath & Body Works expects its third quarter net sales to remain flat to increase by 2.5%, with earnings per share projected to be between $0.41 and $0.47, compared to the estimate of $0.53.

Price Action: BBWI shares are trading lower by 4.95% to $33.00 premarket at last check Wednesday.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

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