Chico’s Fas Inc. shares gained 6.8% in Tuesday premarket trading after the women’s clothing and accessories company reported a first-quarter sales beat and gave guidance that’s ahead of expectations. Net losses totaled $8.9 million, or 8 cents per share, after a loss of $178.3 million, or $1.55 per share, last year. Sales totaled $388.0 million, up from $280.3 million last year. The FactSet consensus was for a loss per share of 17 cents and sales of $321.0 million. Comparable sales were down 21.7% versus the Q1 2019, with the Soma underwear chain up 39.3% and the namesake chain and White House Black Market down 32.9%. For 2021, Chico’s expects year-over-year consolidated net sales improvement of 28% to 34%. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $1.582 billion, implying 19.5% growth. Chico’s shares have skyrocketed 261.6% for the year to date while the benchmark S&P 500 index is up 12.5% for the period.
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