Why Camping World Holdings, Inc. Stock Plunged Today

What happened

Shares of Camping World Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CWH) were down 17.3% as of 3:00 p.m. EDT Tuesday after the RV dealer announced mixed first-quarter 2018 results and warned of a slow start to its peak selling season.

That's not to say Camping World's performance looked bad at first glance. Quarterly revenue increased 20.4% year over year, to $1.06 billion, including a 3.9% increase in same-store sales. On the bottom line, that translated to 16.5% growth in adjusted pro forma net income, to $36.9 million, and a 9.7% increase in adjusted earnings per share, to $0.41. However, most investors were looking for higher adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share on slightly lower revenue of $1.05 billion.

So what

Camping World Chairman and CEO Marcus Lemonis called it a "very strong" quarter, noting its results were roughly in line with expectations. Looking forward, however, Lemonis also revealed that unusually cold weather has hurt sales in the early part of Camping World's peak selling season.

At the same time, he insisted the "backdrop across the RV industry remains strong" and that the company continues to expect a mid-single-digit increase in same-store sales for the full year of 2018.

Now what

During the subsequent conference call, Camping World reiterated its guidance for full-year 2018 revenue in the $4.8 billion to $5.0 billion range and for adjusted EBITDA of $431 million to $441 million. But considering consensus estimates already predicted Camping World's 2018 revenue would arrive near the high end of its current guidance range, it's obvious the market wanted more.

Coupled with Camping World's minor earnings shortfall (relative to expectations) in Q1 and its temporary weather-related sales headwinds, it's no surprise to see the stock falling in response.

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