Is. J.Jill Facing Existential Threat With Other Womens Retailers?

Retail

Published: May 30, 2019 11:15 am

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 4:14 am

J.Jill Inc. (NYSE: JILL) shares were absolutely crushed on Thursday morning after the company reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results. The company said that it had $0.10 in earnings per share (EPS) and $176.5 million in revenue, which compared with consensus estimates of $0.17 in EPS and revenue of $180.04 million. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.29 on $181.54 million in revenue.

During the most recent quarter, total comparable sales decreased 3.3%. Direct to consumer net sales represented 41.9% of total net sales, compared to 40.5% in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.

Management said that it would take immediate actions to clear excess inventory and position the business for improved results in the second half of the year.

While J.Jill is still profitable, slowing sales and trends may make investors wonder about the future. It also says something that about 34.5% of J.Jill’s float is sold short.

Looking ahead to the fiscal second quarter, the company expects to see a net loss per share of $0.08 to $0.10 and comparable sales decreasing in the range of 1% to 3%. Consensus estimates call for $0.21 in EPS and $180.19 million in revenue for the quarter.

Linda Heasley, president and CEO of J.Jill, commented:

We are early in the process of executing against our updated long-term strategies, and our new leadership team across key areas of the business is now in place and will begin to have greater impacts on the business. We are incorporating key learnings from the first quarter and will continue to assess investments in technology and process improvements to ensure the team has the tools to satisfy our core customers and capture the opportunities we see ahead for the J.Jill brand.

Shares of J.Jill traded down about 54% at $1.66 Thursday morning, in a new 52-week range of $1.58 to $8.08. The consensus price target is $7.43.

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