Ralph Lauren Corp. Posts Solid Q4 Earnings, Tepid Outlook

Written by StockNews.com

Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE:RL) early Thursday posted solid fiscal fourth quarter earnings results, although its revenue forecast for fiscal 2018 was lower than expected.

The New York City-based apparel maker reported Q4:

earnings per share (EPS) of $0.89, which was $0.11 better than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $0.78.

revenues fell 16.4% from last year to $1.56 billion, matching analysts’ view for $1.56 billion.

Wholesale revenue was down 15% on a matched basis, and

comparable sales (comps) fell 11%.

Looking ahead, RL:

forecast full-year fiscal 2018 revenues to fall between 9.5% and 10.5%. That implies sales around $5.95 to $6.02 billion, below the $6.07 billion that analysts are looking for.

For the current first quarter, RL:

sees net revenues to fall in the low double-digits.

Ralph Lauren, Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, commented via press release:

“The retail landscape today is more dynamic than ever, but within this environment, our brand continues to be one of the most recognized and beloved all over the world.

Our performance for the year reflects our work to strengthen our brand and I am confident that the actions we are taking, combined with our strong heritage, position us well to succeed.

I am very excited to partner with Patrice Louvet, who will join as our CEO in July, as we continue our evolution.”

Ralph Lauren Corp shares rose $2.25 (+3.09%) in premarket trading Thursday. Year-to-date, RL has declined -18.96%, versus a 5.96% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.