Why Francesca’s Is Tuesday’s Top Retailer

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
Why Francesca’s Is Tuesday’s Top Retailer

© Alex Potemkin / Getty Images

Francesca’s may not be a household name like Walmart, Target or other major retailers. However, shares of Francesca’s Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: FRAN) were absolutely beating every other retailer in the market on Tuesday, after it announced second-quarter earnings before the opening bell.

The firm said that it had $0.72 in earnings per share (EPS) and $106.0 in revenue, which compared with $0.12 per share and $113.0 million posted in the same period of last year.

Comparable sales decreased by 5% in the latest quarter. The decrease in comparable sales was the result of lower average unit retail prices associated with deeper markdowns on legacy product. This decrease was partially offset by higher boutique conversion rates and higher average units per transaction.

In terms of its segments, the firm reported as follows:

  • Apparel sales decreased 8% year over year to $52.39 million.
  • Jewelry sales increased by 4% to $27.96 million.
  • Accessories sales decreased 6% to $16.21 million.
  • Gifts sales decreased by 25% to $8.53 million.

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Michael Prendergast, interim CEO, commented:

We are very pleased to see significant improvement in our comparable sales for the second quarter. After a long period of double digit comp sales declines we achieved considerable sequential improvement in our comp sales in each month within the quarter. Gross margin was impacted by aggressive markdowns on poor performing legacy products that we accelerated within the quarter. However, we saw strong and better than expected sell through on new merchandise. … We realized material savings this quarter through a number of cost reduction initiatives that we have been executing since the beginning of fiscal 2019.

Shares of Francesca’s traded up more than 80% early Tuesday at $9.32, in a 52-week range of $2.78 to $52.92. The consensus price target is just $1.75.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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