Why Kate Spade & Co. Stock Plunged Today

Image source: Kate Spade & Co.

What:Shares ofKate Spade & Co.(NYSE: KATE) were down 19.9% as of 12:00 p.m. ET Wednesday after the fashion and apparel company released disappointing second-quarter 2016 results.

So what:Quarterly revenue climbed 13.7% year over year (17.2% excluding sales for wind-down operations), to $319.7 million, including 4% growth in direct-to-consumer comparable sales (1% excluding e-commerce). That translated to adjusted income from continuing operations of $14.7 million, and 37.5% growth in adjusted net income per share, to $0.11.

Analysts, on average, predicted Kate Spade would turn in slightly lower revenue of $318.6 million, but significantly higher adjusted earnings of $0.14 per share.

"Several factors contributed to our second-quarter results falling short of our expectations," said Kate Spade CEO Crag Leavitt, "the most impactful of which are the retail landscape and continuing tourist headwinds. As we navigate these broader industry trends, we remain very confident in our long-term growth initiatives and have a number of strategies in place to drive our business in the second half of 2016."

Now what: In the meantime, however, Kate Spade also reduced its full-year guidance, calling for 2016 net sales of $1.37 billion to $1.40 billion (down from $1.385 billion to $1.41 billion previously), adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $242 million to $260 million (down from $257 million to $282 million previously), and diluted earnings per share of $0.63 to $0.70 (down from the prior range of $0.70 to $0.80).

So while Kate Spade and Co. might well have the necessary plan in place to get back on track in the second half, given its relative underperformance in Q2 and freshly lowered guidance, it's no surprise to see shares diving today.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.