Guess Shares Plunge on Weak Outlook

Shares of Guess? Inc. (NYSE:GES) plunged more than 11% in after-hours trading after the company reported mixed fiscal fourth-quarter results, and gave meek first-quarter and full-year guidance that was well below expectations.

The retailer cited “economic pressures” impacting consumer confidence in some of its markets, as having an affect on its results. Fourth-quarter net income fell 7.2% to $95.9 million, or $1.05 a share, compared with year-ago profit of $103.3 million, or $1.11 a share.

Revenue for the quarter rose 2.5% to $775.8 million, up from last year’s sales of $756.9 million.

Fourth-quarter results were mixed, narrowly missing expectations for the bottom line. The Street was expecting earnings of $1.05 a share on revenue of $778.53 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

"We enter this fiscal year in a challenging macroeconomic environment, especially in Europe, though there are some signs of improvement in the United States,” said Paul Marciano, chief executive, in a statement.  He went onto say the company will focus new marketing programs to drive store traffic and will work to develop new international markets.  The retailer also boasted that it opened 261 new stores in fiscal 2012.

Looking ahead, Guess expects first-quarter earnings to range between 25 cents and 28 cents a share on revenue between $560 million and $575 million, well below the Street’s forecast for 48 cents a share on revenue of $609.66 million.

The company forecast full-year earnings per share between $2.50 and $2.65 on revenue ranging from $2.74 billion to $2.78 billion, also below Wall Street’s expectations for earnings of $3.18 on net sales of $2.83 billion.

Shares of Guess fell slightly, down just 2 cents, to close the regular session on Wednesday at $36.70 a share.  The stock was down $4.15, or 11.31%, in after-hours trading. Year-to-date, the stock is up 23%.