Over a week ago | ||||
Chico's FAS… Chico's FAS announced that Jay Topper has been appointed Chief Digital Officer. In this role, Topper will oversee the company's technology, infrastructure and security, and supply chain and logistics, and he will report directly to Molly Langenstein, president and CEO of Chico's FAS. Topper joins Chico's FAS from FTD, where he served as chief digital officer, the company noted. |
Over a month ago | ||||
B. Riley Securities… B. Riley Securities analyst Susan Anderson raised the firm's price target on Chico's to $2.50 from $2 and reiterates a Neutral rating on the shares following the company's Q4 results. The analyst remains on the sidelines until she sees additional visibility on recovery of demand for polished apparel. | ||||
The company said,… The company said, "Given the ongoing market disruption caused by the pandemic and related uncertainty on timing and extent of the market recovery, the Company is not providing specific Q1 and FY21 financial guidance at this time. The Company is, however, providing information on its planning expectations for the coming year. At this time, the Company expects to benefit from the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, particularly given its customer base, and is planning for consolidated sales trends to improve in the back half of the year. Consolidated sales trends for the first half of the year are expected to be largely in line with reported FY20 results. By brand, the Company expects continued strong performance at Soma, with performance at Chico's and White House Black Market consistent with market expectations and all brands benefiting from the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. We expect our ongoing investment in the digital channel to deliver continued sales growth. Cost savings realized in FY20 are expected to be maintained in FY21. The Company is continuing to implement supply chain efficiencies and intends to maintain stringent inventory controls, with fiscal Q1 inventories planned down 30% to last year, which are expected to support improving current margin levels. To further optimize its store footprint and improve profitability, in FY21, the Company will continue to emphasize its growing digital channel and anticipates rolling out "store-in-store" opportunities for the Soma brand in 50 Chico's boutiques. The Company anticipates closing approximately 13%-16% of its remaining store fleet over the next three fiscal years, with approximately 40 to 45 of these closures occurring in FY21. The vast majority are expected to be mall-based Chico's and White House Black Market stores. These actions would put the Company ahead of its original multi-year closure target of 250 stores." | ||||
Reports Q4 revenue… Reports Q4 revenue $386.2M, consensus $447.6M. Q4 net loss includes $35.9M, or 32c per share, in significant after-tax non-cash charges, including a deferred tax asset valuation allowance of $32.1M, or 28c per share, within the Company's income tax provision. Reports Q4 comparable sales decline of 24.9% as well as the impact of 39 net permanent store closures since last year's Q4, partially offset by double-digit growth in digital sales. Molly Langenstein, CEO, said, "While sales reflect the challenging environment, we took important actions over the past year to strengthen our financial and operating foundation and position our brands for market share gains. We enter 2021 as a digital-first, customer-led company with the capabilities to support continued improvement, enhanced value creation and a return to growth in the years ahead. We have a solid balance sheet, strong liquidity and the financial stability we need for the foreseeable future. Cost savings we achieved in 2020 will flow through to future years, demonstrating the discipline that is now core to our organization." | ||||
Chico's is up 18.2%,… Chico's is up 18.2%, or 54c to $3.48. |
Over a quarter ago | ||||
B. Riley Securities… B. Riley Securities analyst Susan Anderson raised the firm's price target on Chico's to $2 from $1.50 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. Entering 2021, the analyst sees a "number of tailwinds" for retailers that were created by the pandemic including lean inventory, cost control, competitor rationalization, store rationalization, accelerated shifts to e-commerce, easy first halve of 2021 compares and fiscal stimulus. For 2021, Anderson favors retailers that are able to renegotiate rents/store leases, benefit from competitor closures, levered to the "get out" economy and benefit from stimulus checks. | ||||
Given the ongoing market… Given the ongoing market disruption caused by the pandemic and related uncertainty on timing and extent of the market recovery, the Company is not providing fiscal Q4 guidance at this time. | ||||
Reports Q3 revenue… Reports Q3 revenue $351.4M, consensus $374.97M. The Q3 net loss includes the after-tax impact of impairment charges of $6.3M, or 6c per share. Molly Langenstein, CEO and President, Chico's FAS said: "Eighteen months ago, we prioritized digital as the primary growth engine for all three of our brands, making major strategic shifts and investments to pivot us to a digital-first company. In March of this year, as our business became 100% digital overnight, we accelerated that transformation through innovation and state-of-the art technology enhancements. Even with our stores now reopened, we continue to generate year-over-year double-digit digital sales increases. As a digital-first company, we believe we are competitively positioned to accelerate growth and gain market share in 2021 and beyond." | ||||
B. Riley Securities… B. Riley Securities analyst Susan Anderson downgraded Chico's to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $1.50, down from $3. It will take until at least the second half of 2020 before Chico's sees a significant turn in sales given its two largest formats are more focused on work wear, Anderson tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes a sales recovery has now been pushed out to the second half of 2021 or into 2022. | ||||
B. Riley Securities… B. Riley Securities analyst Susan Anderson downgraded Chico's to Neutral from Buy with a $1.50 price target. |