Wednesday's post-stock market close news was, as in weeks past, dominated by quarterly results figures released late in the afternoon.
The stocks of two companies reporting, furniture retailer Pier 1 (PIRRQ) and pharmacy chain operator Rite Aid (RAD), are seeing plenty of action... although probably not the kind of action they'd like to see.
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Rite Aid's Q1 loss
Rite Aid's stock could use a fresh bandage. It's getting hammered in the aftermarket; just now it's down 11% from its closing price today.
This follows the post-market release of its Q1 of fiscal 2020 results. During the quarter the company booked revenue of just under $5.4 billion, a slight decline from the same period last year. Same-store sales inched up by 1.4%.
Net loss, however, deepened to $99 million ($1.88 per share) from the year-ago figure of nearly $42 million ($0.79). The Q1 2020 result, though, was affected by over $43 million in what the company termed "pre-tax restructuring-related costs."
Regardless, that bottom-line deficit was wider than the average analyst estimate of $0.90 per share. At least revenue broadly met projections -- analysts had been expecting around $5.4 billion.
Rite Aid, the country's No. 3 pharmacy retail chain, has really fallen out of favor with investors since its failed merger with Walgreens Boots Alliance. On a fundamental level, it has struggled to compete with the ever-more powerful Walgreens and CVS Health.
Pier 1 sinks on results
Another retailer fighting to remain relevant is Pier 1 (PIRRQ), which also unveiled its Q1 2020 figures after market close.
For the period, Pier 1's total net sales fell by almost 16% to $314 million, on the back of same-store sales that suffered a 14% decline. The news wasn't much better on the bottom line, with net loss deepening to nearly $82 million ($19.97, although this is after a recent 1-for-20 reverse stock split) from the Q1 2019 shortfall of almost $26 million.
Those results were significantly worse than expected by analysts. On average, the prognosticators figured the company would absorb a per-share loss of $11.50 on net sales a bit north of $345 million.
Pier 1 is a poster-boy victim of the dreaded retail apocalypse. It hasn't adjusted well to the modern retail climate, and what's more, it operates in the always-competitive furniture and home furnishings segment.
Aftermarket investors are not in a tolerant mood with Pier 1 stock tonight. They're collectively trading the retailer's shares down by a steep 15% as of this writing.
