Stitch Fix looks like the UK as active customer growth slows



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Online personal shopping company

Stitch Fix
Inc.

SFIX 1.96%

Monday announced plans to expand into the UK as customer growth slows on its US home market.

On Monday, the company reported 2.7 million active customers in the quarter ended July 28, up 25% from the same period last year but broadly unchanged from the previous quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast 2.8 million active customers in the fourth quarter.

The company defines active customers as those who received a shipment or "fix" in the previous 12 months.

The stock, which outperformed the market with a gain of 73% this year and a record $ 52.44 last month, dropped 21% to $ 35.35 after trading.

The San Francisco-based company, which went public in November, is positioned as more than a traditional clothing retailer. Customers complete a survey that the company's stylists use to recommend outfits.

Stitch Fix, which has released a business figure of $ 1.23 billion during its last fiscal year, expects sales to reach $ 1.47 billion to $ 1.53 billion dollars this year. According to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, the consensus forecast was about $ 1.48 billion.

Chief Executive Katrina Lake said Monday during a conference call that the UK represents a market where customers are turning to online sales and that "is a little less focused on cuts than the states -United". Expansion of the United Kingdom.

Stitch Fix focused adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the full year on a range of $ 20 million to $ 40 million, compared to $ 53.6 million for the full year. completed in July, in part because of its international expansion.

In a letter to shareholders published Monday, Stitch Fix also said that it would continue to invest in new categories. In the fourth quarter, for example, the company launched Stitch Fix Kids, which received "first positive feedback" from its customers, Lake said during the conference call.

In total, Stitch Fix posted a profit of $ 18.2 million, or 18 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of $ 4.5 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company posted a profit of 17 cents per share, ahead of expectations of 14 cents per share.

Sales rose 23% to $ 318.3 million, roughly in line with both the internal and Wall Street forecasts.

At the same time, gross profit margin improved from 43.5% a year earlier to 44.4%, thanks to better inventory management.

Write to Maria Armental at [email protected]

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