Express Tumbles on Disappointing Outlook

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Shares of Express Inc. (NYSE: EXPR) have plummeted in premarket trading after the specialty retailer forecast a third-quarter profit of $0.16 to $0.20 cents per share. That is well off the Wall St. estimate of $0.29 cents a share. The company also now expects third-quarter comparable sales to decline in the mid single-digit range.

Michael Weiss, Chairman, President and CEO stated:

While our sales in August were in line with the expectations we provided when we introduced third quarter guidance, trends became increasingly difficult in September driven by an abrupt change in traffic. This along with increased promotional activity to maintain our inventory discipline has led to the revision in our third quarter sales and earnings guidance. We have seen traffic trends improve in the final week of September, as we conveyed a clearer pricing message to our customers. We have also experienced a favorable reaction to the new sweater styles we recently delivered in our women’s offering and continue to generate solid sales within our men’s business.

The company plans to report actual third quarter fiscal 2012 results the week of November 26, 2012. It will update its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2012 guidance when it reports third quarter results.

Express is down 20% to $12.00 in premarket trading, a new 52-week low if it holds. The 52-week range was $14.50 to $26.27.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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