What happened

After Stitch Fix (SFIX -1.34%) reported mixed fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 earnings, shares of the online personal styling services provider sank 29% as of 10:35 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.

So what

Here's a review of the key figures from the fiscal fourth quarter: 

  • Revenue jumped 23% to $318.3 million. This result was a hair shy of the $318.9 million that Wall Street had projected.
  • Net income soared to $18.3 million, or $0.18 per share. This figure crushed the $0.06 in EPS that market watchers were expecting.
  • Active clients increased 25% year over year to 2.7 million. For context, analysts were expecting the platform to have 2.81 million active clients. 
Five pieces of men's clothing, or a fix, on top of an invoice.

Image source: Stitch Fix.

Founder and CEO Katrina Lake also announced that Stitch Fix will launch in the United Kingdom by the end of fiscal 2019. 

Zooming out to the full year, here's a look at Stitch Fix's key numbers from fiscal 2018: 

  • Revenue grew 26% to $1.2 billion. 
  • Net income was $44.9 million, or $0.34 per share. This compares with a net loss of $0.02 per share in fiscal 2017.

Finally, here's a look at the guidance that management shared with investors:

  • Fiscal first-quarter 2019 revenue is expected to land between $354 million and $360 million. For perspective, Wall Street was expecting $359.2 million in revenue, so the midpoint of this range is disappointing. 
  • Full-year fiscal 2019 revenue is projected to land between $1.47 billion and $1.53 billion. Market watchers were projecting revenue of $1.48 billion.

Prior to today's plunge, Stitch Fix's stock had risen more than 70% since the start of the year. With that context in mind, today's huge drop makes sense given the disappointing quarterly revenue, lower-than-hoped-for active user count, and mild guidance. Shareholder disappointment may be compounded by Amazon's renewed interest in the space. 

Now what

Stitch Fix has a lot of growth initiatives in place. The recent expansion into men's, plus-size, and kids' clothing provides the business with lots of opportunities. The upcoming launch into the U.K. is another iron in the fire.

However, Stitch Fix's guidance suggests that its growth rate is decelerating. And growth might be more challenging to come by given Amazon's recent focus on the space.

Will Stitch Fix's personalized shopping experience and rich database be enough to keep it one step ahead of the competition? That question remains up in the air, so investors will want to stay tuned.