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Shares of
were falling sharply on Thursday despite the apparel maker reporting better-than-expected fiscal-fourth-quarter results. It’s the latest name in the apparel sector to do so this earnings season.
Ralph Lauren stock (ticker: RL) was down 8.5%, at $119.86, in recent trading. The
index was up 0.8%. The stock is still up 16% year-to-date and 61% in the past 12 months, as investors bet on a return to more-formal apparel as the world reopens.
The company reported fiscal-fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 38 cents a share, topping analyst estimates of a net loss of 72 cents a share, according to FactSet. Sales of $1.29 billion were up 1% from last year, edging out expectations of $1.21 billion. Ralph Lauren’s global digital commerce sales were up 52% year over year.
Ralph Lauren also brought back its quarterly dividend during the first quarter of fiscal 2022, which began March 28. The dividend is about 68.8 cents a share, or $2.75 a share annually.
“This fiscal year, we fundamentally repositioned our company for long-term success—accelerating our digital and marketing capabilities, eliminating structural headwinds, focusing our brand portfolio and realigning our cost structure—all while continuing our brand elevation journey around the world,” CEO
Patrice Louvet
said in the earnings release.
For the 2022 fiscal year, the company forecasts constant-currency sales to rise 20% to 25% from fiscal 2021, on a comparable basis. It expects operating margins of about 11%, up 6.2 percentage points from the previous year.
The company said lockdowns and Covid-19 restrictions in Europe and Japan will impact results in the first quarter. But it still sees sales jumping 140% to 150% from last year, when adjusted for foreign-currency fluctuations.
Write to Connor Smith at connor.smith@barrons.com
