When Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) reported its most recent quarterly results late on Wednesday, the retailer posted a net loss of $19.97 per share and $314.3 million in revenue. That compared with consensus estimates that called for a net loss of $11.50 per share and $330.3 million in revenue, as well as the $7.20 per share net loss and revenue of $371.86 million in the same period of last year.
Note that this incredible net loss of $81.7 million, reflects the firm’s one-for-20 reverse stock split that took place on June 20.
During the quarter, comparable sales decreased 13.5% compared to the year-ago period. The decline in company comparable sales is a result of lower average customer spend, which is primarily attributable to changes in the merchandise mix, as well as decreased store traffic.
Pier 1 operated 967 stores at the end of the first quarter, a decrease of 30 from the first quarter of fiscal 2019.
Cheryl Bachelder, interim CEO, commented:
Our teams are laser focused on the initiatives under our fiscal 2020 action plan, which is designed to reset our operating model and rebuild our business for the future. We believe Pier 1 has strong brand equity and a loyal customer who will return for the right style stories in our assortment. As we expected, our sales and margins remained under pressure in the first quarter and we anticipate this will continue through the second quarter. This reflects our decision to take aggressive clearance actions to move through lower-priced, lower-margin goods and ensure we provide our customers with a strong, on-brand style statement for fall.
Shares of Pier 1 traded down 9% to $7.98 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $5.60 to $53.40. The consensus price target is $0.50.
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