Are Five Below Holiday Sales Signaling a New Trend in Retail?

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
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Are Five Below Holiday Sales Signaling a New Trend in Retail?

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Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE | FIVE Price Prediction) shares were crushed on Monday after the company announced net sales results for its holiday period. This continues the trend of retailers being outfoxed by e-commerce, with more consumers making their holiday purchases online and Amazon specifically.

Five Below joins the list of retailers that posted underwhelming holiday sales. Some of the big names on this list include Urban Outfitters, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond and Macy’s.

As for this retailer, holiday net sales increased 13.4% year over year to $596.6 million from $526.1 million for the nine-week period of November 3, 2019, through January 4, 2020. Comparable sales for the holiday period decreased by 2.6%.

Based on this quarter-to-date performance, management updated its guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year. Five Below expects to see net sales in the range of $685 million to $577 million, with comparable sales decreasing in the range of 2.0% to 2.5%. Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be in the range of $1.93 to $1.96. Consensus estimates are calling for $2.02 in EPS and $728.79 million in revenue for the fourth quarter.

Joel Anderson, president and CEO of Five Below, commented:

While our comparable sales during key holiday selling periods were positive, they were not strong enough to overcome the headwind of six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and overall sales did not meet our expectations. Despite the sales shortfall, strong inventory management and disciplined cost control has us on track to end the quarter with gross margin in line with our expectations and to deliver earnings per share near the low end of our previous guidance range.

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Shares of Five Below were last seen down over 13% at $104.82, in a 52-week range of $95.52 to $148.22. The consensus price target is $142.11.

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Photo of Chris Lange
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.

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