DSW Dives 10% on Dreary 2Q Outlook

Shares of DSW (NYSE:DSW) tumbled more than 10% Monday morning after the shoe retailer revealed a gloomy outlook for the second quarter due to margin issues.

The disappointing guidance overshadowed a separate announcement by DSW to buy back up to $100 million of its shares of the next 12 months.

Columbus, Ohio-based DSW said it expects to earn 60 cents to 64 cents a share on a non-GAAP basis this quarter due to a more normalized gross margin performance and the cost of opening new stores. Even the optimistic end of that new range would badly miss the Street’s view of 76 cents.

Management expects same-store sales to rise 2% to 4% in the second quarter.

DSW CEO Mike MacDonald said his company is seeing a “more normalized mix of regular-priced and clearance-priced sales,” compared with the year-earlier period when regular-priced sales jumped.

“Although DSW has traditionally only provided annual earnings guidance, we elected to provide additional insight to second quarter expectations given the disparity between our expectations and those of the investment community,” MacDonald said.

Meanwhile, DSW also reiterated its full-year guidance, projecting 2012 non-GAAP EPS of $3.25 to $3.40 as same-store sales rise 3% to 5%. The midpoint of the EPS range, $3.33, would also trail consensus calls from analysts for $3.37.

Wall Street punished DSW on Monday, driving its shares 10% lower to $53 ahead of the opening bell. The steep selloff puts the shares on track to trim their 2012 surge of about 33%.