Why Ascena Retail Group Inc. Stock Plunged Today

IMAGE SOURCE: Ascena Retail Group Inc.

What happened

Shares ofAscena Retail Group Inc.(NASDAQ: ASNA) fell as much as 15.6% early Tuesday and then settled to trade down 11% as of 2:00 p.m. EST after the women's fashion retailer announced disappointing holiday results.

So what

More From Fool.com

Motley Fool Founders Issue New Stock Buy Alert

Forget GE! Heres how to play the largest growth opportunity in history

Forget Apple! Heres a Better Stock to Buy

He Made 21,078% Buying Amazon. Heres His New Pick

For the 2016 holiday period from Nov. 19, 2016, through Jan. 2, 2017, Ascena's consolidated comparable sales declined 3.1%, as 2.7% growth in comps from the kids fashion segment and 1.6% growth from Catherines were more than offset by comparable sales declines of 8.2% at Ann Taylor, 1.8% at LOFT, 7.1% from maurices, 4.6% from dressbarn, and 5.1% at Lane Bryant.

In addition, for the combined November and December fiscal periods, Ascena's consolidated comparable sales fell 4.4%.

As Ascena Retail Group CEO David Jaffe said:

Now what

As a result, Ascena now expects an adjusted loss per share of $0.11 to $0.08 for the fiscal second quarter ending Jan. 28, 2017 -- well below its previous guidance for adjusted EPS ranging from a loss of $0.05 per share to break even.Finally, for the full fiscal year ending July 29, 2017, Ascena expects adjusted earnings per share ranging from $0.37 to $0.42, representing a significant reduction from prior guidance for full fiscal-year adjusted earnings per share of $0.60 to $0.65.

All things considered, even with shares down nearly 42% over the past yearbeforetoday's plunge, it's no surprise to see investors taking yet another step back from Ascena Retail Group stock today.

10 stocks we like better than Ascena Retail Group When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Ascena Retail Group wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of January 4, 2017

Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.