Children's Place stock plunges 17% after wider-than-expected losses, back-to-school slowdown

Shares of Children's Place Inc. plunged 17.7% in Tuesday trading after the kid's apparel retailer reported wider-than-expected second-quarter losses. Net losses totaled $46.6 million, or $3.19 per share, after net income of $1.5 million, or 10 cents per share, last year. Adjusted losses of $1.48 per share were wider than the FactSet consensus for a loss of $1.14 per share. Sales of $368.9 million fell from $420.5 million last year and were below the $372.0 million FactSet outlook. Online sales grew 118%. As of August 1, Children's Place had reopened 771 stores, or 94%, of the fleet. In the first half fiscal 2020, the company permanently closed 102 locations, and aims to close 200 stores for the year along with another 100 stores in fiscal 2021. Children's Place expects the slow start to the back-to-school shopping season to hurt the third quarter. "Due to the large majority of schools adopting remote or hybrid learning models for the start of the school year, our back-to-school sales have been significantly impacted and we anticipate a meaningful negative impact on our Q3 results," said Chief Executive Jane Elfers in a statement. The company didn't provide financial guidance due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Children's Place shares have tumbled 69.4% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index has gained 6.2% for the period.

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