Shares of Nordstrom Inc. dropped more than 3% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the retailer swung to a surprise quarterly loss and joined other stores in reporting lower sales, saying it was “right-sizing” its inventory.
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said it lost $20 million, or 13 cents a share, in the third quarter, swinging from a profit of $40 million, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
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Adjusted for one-time items, including what the company called “supply-chain impairments,” Nordstrom earned 20 cents a share.
Sales fell 2.9% to $3.43 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for GAAP per-share earnings of 11 cents and adjusted earnings of 15 cents a share on sales of $3.49 billion.
“We are right-sizing our inventory levels and mix, and are on track to end 2022 in a healthy and current position,” President Pete Nordstrom said in a statement.
Chief Executive Erik Nordstrom touched upon a trend, following other retailers’ recent reports: “When customer demand decelerated in late June, we took action to align inventory and expenses with the changing trends,” he said.
Nordstrom is focusing on “remaining agile” to respond to customers’ changing needs, Pete Nordstrom said.
Nordstrom reaffirmed its fiscal 2022 guidance of revenue growth between 5% and 7%, and adjusted EPS between $2.30 and $2.60. Nordstrom dialed down its guidance for the year when it reported second-quarter earnings in August.
Shares of Nordstrom have eked out a gain for the year so far, up 0.1%, contrasting with losses of around 17% for the S&P 500 index
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