Stitch Fix falls short of expectations with 22% rise in revenue

By

Robin Driver

Published
Mar 10, 2020

San Francisco-based online styling service Stitch Fix, Inc. reported a 22.0% jump in its second-quarter revenues on Monday, growth that came in under analysts’ expectations and sent shares in the company plummeting 39% after the closing bell to an all-time low of under $14.

 
For the second quarter ended February 1, 2020, Stitch Fix announced that it had achieved net revenue of $451.8 million, up from $370.3 million in the prior-year period, with growth driven by increases in both the platform’s active client base and net revenue per client.
 
The number of active Stitch Fix clients grew 17% year over year to 3.5 million, while net revenue per client increased 8.3% to $501.

FactSet analysts cited by MarketWatch had expected the company to report second-quarter revenues of $452.6 million and net revenue per client of $503.70.
 
Despite the solid growth in its revenues, Stitch Fix’s quarterly net income totaled $11.4 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, down from $12.0 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, in the same period in the previous year.
 
This decline was due in part to an increase in the company’s selling, general and administrative expenses, which were $193.7 million, or 42.9% of net revenue, compared to $147.7 million, or 39.9% of net revenue, in Q2 2019. The increase reflected higher spending on advertising and talent, investments which the company highlighted as necessary expenses to drive its growth.
 
“We are pleased to deliver another strong quarter in Q2,” commented Stitch Fix founder and CEO Katrina Lake in a release. “We grew active clients to 3.5 million, an increase of 17% year over year, and grew net revenue per active client by 8% year over year, our seventh consecutive quarter of growth and a reflection of our unique personalization capabilities.”
 
For the first half of the year, Stitch Fix reported revenues of $896.6 million, up from $736.5 million, while income totaled $11.3 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, down from $22.6 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the same six-month period in the previous year.
 
Stitch Fix also disappointed Wall Street analysts with its full-year revenue guidance, which it reduced from an earlier estimate of between $1.90 billion and $1.93 billion to a new prediction of between $1.81 billion and $1.84 billion.
 
The company expects its net revenue to be between $465 million and $475 million in the third quarter, reflecting an increase of between 14% and 16%.