Petco Health & Wellness Co. Inc.’s stock WOOF slid 7% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the pet food and health products company’s fourth-quarter earnings lagged estimates and it offered soft guidance for the current year. San Diego, Calif.-based Petco posted net income of $32.7 million, or 12 cents a share, for the quarter to Jan. 28, up from $27.3 million, or 11 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 23 cents, just below the 24 cent FactSet consensus. Revenue rose 4.2% to $1.578 billion from $1.514 billion, a whisker below the $1.579 billion FactSet consensus. Same-store sales rose 5.3%, while FactSet expected a rise of 3.6%. Sales were lifted by the company’s consumables business and services and other business, partially offset by the supplies and companion animal business. The company is now expecting fiscal 2023 revenue of $6.150 billion to $6.275 billion and adjusted EPS to be down 21 cents to down 13 cents. The EPS number will be hurt by about $145 million to $155 million of principal payments on a term loan. The FactSet consensus is for revenue of $6.360 billion and EPS of 68 cents. The stock has fallen 48% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has fallen 11%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.