Stitch Fix reports jump in revenue, appoints new president

By

Robin Driver

Published
Dec 10, 2019

Online personal styling service Stitch Fix, Inc. reported a 21% increase in net revenue for the first quarter on Monday, beating out analysts’ expectations for both sales and income.

 
In the first quarter ended November 2, 2019, Stitch Fix achieved net revenue of $444.8 million, up from $366.2 million in the prior-year period. The San Francisco-based company also saw its active client base rise 17% to 3.4 million in the quarter.
 
Despite this progress, Stitch Fix reported a net loss of $0.2 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, down from net income of $10.7 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, in the same period in the previous year, as increased costs ate into the platform’s bottom line.

Nonetheless, as analysts surveyed by FactSet and cited by MarketWatch had expected the company to report a loss of $0.60 per share on revenues of $441.1 million, Stitch Fix beat their predictions on both counts.
 
“We had another quarter of great momentum in Q1,” said Stitch Fix founder and CEO Katrina Lake in a release. “Demonstrating the power of our data science, we continued to delight our clients, growing revenue per active client by 10% year over year, our sixth consecutive quarter of growth. We are excited by early results from our direct-buy initiatives, and believe these initiatives have the potential to expand our addressable market over time.”
 
It was also revealed on Monday that Elizabeth Spaulding will be joining Stitch Fix as its new president, effective January 27, 2020.

In her new role at the company, Spaulding will be responsible for leading initiatives that will usher Stitch Fix into its next stage of growth, with a focus on direct-buy capabilities and international expansion. She will report to Lake.
 
Currently, Spaulding is global head and founder of Bain & Company’s digital practice, a position that she has held since 2014 and in which she leads innovation services, software development and corporate development for new technology, among other responsibilities.
 
During her time at Bain & Company, Spaulding also founded software engineering group Adapt and led a team with offices in Beijing, Bangalore, Singapore, London, Berlin and San Francisco.
 
“I’m excited to welcome Elizabeth to our team,” commented Lake. “She is an extremely talented leader, with extensive experience on a global scale. We are entering an exciting new chapter for Stitch Fix, as we expand our personalization capabilities to serve more clients in new and engaging ways. Elizabeth will be instrumental in bringing this to life.”
 
Following the announcements of Stitch Fix’s first-quarter results and the appointment of Elizabeth Spaulding as its new president, shares in the company were up 6% in after-hours trading on Monday.