Strong Earnings Beat Pulls Michael Kors Through, Despite Weak Guidance

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 5:34PM EST · Published Nov 4, 8:40AM EST

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Strong Earnings Beat Pulls Michael Kors Through, Despite Weak Guidance — © Thinkstock

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) reported its fiscal second-quarter financial results before the markets opened Wednesday. The company had $1.01 in earnings per share (EPS) on $1.13 billion in revenue, which compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters for $0.89 in EPS on revenue of $1.08 billion. In the same period of the previous year, the company posted EPS of $1.00 and $1.06 billion in revenue.

Same-store sales fell in the most recent quarter by roughly 8%, but most of this drop was attributable to the strong dollar.

In terms of guidance, Michael Kors expects fiscal third-quarter EPS to be in the range of $1.44 to $1.48 and revenue in the range of $1.33 billion to $1.35 billion. Consensus estimates call for $1.53 in EPS on $1.40 billion in revenue for the third quarter.

During this quarter, the company repurchased over 9.4 million shares for approximately $400 million. Also, the board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $500 million in shares, extending through March of 2018.

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John D. Idol, chairman and CEO of Michael Kors, commented on earnings:

We are pleased with our second quarter results, which were ahead of expectations and reflected the continued expansion of our luxury brand worldwide. We drove growth in our retail and wholesale segments as well as across our operating regions in the Americas, Europe and Japan, with our compelling fashion products and jet set shopping experience. Importantly, in our retail segment, our North American digital flagship sales continued to accelerate this quarter and we drove sequential improvement in our comp performance. Looking ahead, we believe we are well positioned for a positive holiday period with our exciting new product introductions and gifting assortments in addition to a captivating marketing campaign, all of which are designed to inspire our customer to celebrate the season with effortless glamour and style. The Michael Kors luxury brand remains incredibly strong, and we are focused on continuing to execute our strategic initiatives to drive long-term sustainable growth.

On the books, cash and cash equivalents totaled $431.5 million in the fiscal third quarter, compared to $978.9 million at the end of the fiscal 2015 year.

Shares of Michael Kors closed Tuesday up 0.9% at $39.32, with a consensus analyst price target of $51 and a 52-week trading range of $36.63 to $78.55. Following the release of the earnings report, shares were up 5.3% to $41.40 in early trading indications.

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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.