How L Brands Guidance Offset Its Bad Comps

May 18, 2017 by Chris Lange

When L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LB) reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Wednesday, the company said that it had $0.33 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.44 billion in revenue. That compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.29 in EPS and revenue of $2.4 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.59 and $2.61 billion in revenue.

Comparable sales for the first quarter ended April 29, 2017, decreased 9%. For the first quarter, the exit of the swim and apparel categories had a negative impact of 6 percentage points and 9 percentage points to total company and Victoria’s Secret comparable sales, respectively.

In terms of its segments, the company reported comparable sales of (14%) for Victoria’s Secret and 2% for Bath & Body Works. For the quarter, Victoria’s Secret had total sales of $1.53 billion and Bath & Body Works had total sales of $678.0 million.

The company increased its guidance for 2017 full-year EPS to $3.10 to $3.40 from $3.05 to $3.35 previously, and it issued guidance for second-quarter EPS between $0.40 and $0.45.

The consensus estimate for the fiscal full year call for $3.21 in EPS and $12.53 billion in revenue, and for the coming quarter the consensus estimates are $0.46 in EPS and $2.77 billion in revenue.

Shares of L Brands closed Wednesday at $48.40, with a consensus analyst price target of $52.83 and a 52-week trading range of $43.04 to $79.67. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was up 6% at $51.40 in early trading indications Thursday.

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