Clothing retailers Lululemon Athletica
The holiday pinch comes after Lululemon beat analyst expectations in Q3, putting a bit of a damper on the company's forward momentum. The company expects earnings for Q4 to land within the lower end of its projections, at around $2.13 billion. Earnings per share are expected to fall around $3.25.
"We started the holiday season in a strong position but have since experienced several consequences of the Omicron variant, including increased capacity constraints, more limited staff availability, and reduced operating hours in certain locations," CEO Calvin McDonald said in a press release. "I am proud of how our teams continue to deliver for our guests, and we are excited about what the future holds for lululemon."
Abercrombie & Fitch reported similar difficulties, with CEO Fran Horowitz noting, "We did not have enough inventory to keep pace with customer demand, resulting in lost sales during the peak holiday selling period." Abercrombie's sales figures are expected to stumble to a meager 2% compared to 2019 pre-pandemic sales.
Many other small and mid-range retailers took a similar stumble over the holiday shopping season, owing to supply line disruptions and the surge of Omicron variant coronavirus. Large retailers such as Walmart
Lululemon investors didn't take the news well, with shares starting trading on Monday 7.5% lower after a pre-market drop. Shares managed to recover 6.5% by noon on Wednesday after maintaining a relatively stable trajectory through Tuesday.
Abercrombie started the week 1.4% down and slid a further 4.5% on Monday to worsen its start for the week. Abercrombie shares recovered on Tuesday and into Wednesday, reaching a peak 13.5% above its Monday low. Abercrombie shares stumbled a bit, though, sliding 3.8% by noon.
