Why V.F. Corp Shares Plunged on Friday

What: Shares of lifestyle apparel company V.F. Corp sank 13% on Friday after its quarterly results and outlook disappointed Wall Street.

So what: V.F. Corp shares have been sluggish over the past year on uninspiring growth, and today's Q3 results -- EPS of $1.07 missed the consensus estimate by $0.05 on a revenue increase of just 2.3% -- coupled with downbeat full-year guidance suggests that trend isn't picking up anytime soon. Although management is doing well to bring down product costs, demand remains relatively stagnant in V.F. Corp's direct-to-consumer channel while foreign exchange headwinds continue to weigh heavily on margins, giving momentum-oriented investors little reason to stick around.

Now what: Management now expects full-year EPS of $3.18 on revenue of about $12.65 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $3.24 and $12.73 billion, respectively. "2015 is on track to be another solid year for VF, driven by strong performances in our Outdoor & Action Sports and Jeanswear brands and our International and Direct-to-Consumer platforms," said Chairman and CEO Eric Wiseman. "And while we see some softness in certain areas of our business and have elected to true up our full year outlook, our fundamentals remain solid and we have great confidence in our ability to provide sustainable, long-term returns for our shareholders."Given V.F. Corp's still-shaky competitive position, worrisome sales trends, and hefty debt load, however, I wouldn't be too quick to buy into that optimism.

The article Why V.F. Corp Shares Plunged on Friday originally appeared on Fool.com.

Brian Pacampara has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.