Container Store Shares Slump After Result, Outlook Fell Short

The Container Store Group Inc. shares tumbled 24% to $16.50 in after-hours trading on Monday, below its 2013 IPO price of $18, after the storage-organization retailer reported disappointing fourth-quarter results and a weak outlook. Profit in the fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 28 fell to $13 million, or 27 cents a share, from $18.3 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose to $224.3 million from $216.8 million. Profit excluding items was 24 cents a share. That missed the 31-cents FactSet consensus estimate. Sales also missed the average estimate of $233.6 million. The company blamed the weakness partly on weather and a stronger dollar that hurt sales. Container Store said it expects profit of 30 cents to 38 cents a share for the new fiscal year, including some one-time items. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for profit of 56 cents a share.