What happened
Shares of Gap Inc. (GPS +0.76%) fell today after the company said it would delay its fourth quarter earnings report by two weeks.
The announcement, which seems to indicate ongoing disarray at the company, helped push the stock down 4.1%.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Gap said last Friday after hours that it would release its fourth quarter earnings report on March 12, after previously saying the report would come out on Feb. 27.
It's rare for a company to delay its earnings report like this, though Gap didn't indicate that there were any accounting issues or other things that might be a red flag for investors.
The news comes after Gap reversed its plan to spin off Old Navy, and after the company forced out former CEO Art Peck in November, replacing him with Chairman Robert Fisher as interim CEO. In total, these events portray a management team struggling to run the company and manage routine affairs.
Now what
The retailer had previously updated investors on its fourth quarter earnings, saying it expected comparable sales to be at the high end of its previous range of down mid-single digits to down low-single digits. It also expects earnings per share to be moderately above its prior range of $1.70-$1.75.
That should give investors hope that Gap is moving in the right direction, but with an interim CEO, confusion around the Old Navy spinoff, and now a delay in the earnings report, management may be losing investor confidence.
