What happened
Shares of Edgewell Personal Care (EPC 1.41%) were tumbling 11% in morning trading Tuesday, after the company reported fiscal third-quarter results that missed analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines.
So what
The owner of Schick razors suffered a considerable decline in sales as stay-at-home orders to combat the coronavirus pandemic minimized the need for personal grooming and sun care products.
Image source: Getty Images.
Edgewell management says that, when taking into account the impact of COVID-19, its organic sales were actually flat to just slightly down compared with the year-ago period, in keeping with its recent trend.
Now what
Earlier this year the Federal Trade Commission determined that Edgewell Personal Care's acquisition of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand Harry's was nothing like Unilever's purchase of Dollar Shave Club, and it squashed the takeover attempt. Edgewell had wanted to buy Harry's to help juice sales, which as its management noted, were flagging even before the pandemic.
The regulator decided that, while Harry's started as a DTC brand, it had since expanded into the brick-and-mortar retail space -- unlike Dollar Shave Club, which remains online only -- so Edgewell would have too much of a competitive edge, despite Harry's minuscule 2.6% market share.
The pandemic showed having an online presence would have been helpful, as Edgewell's organic sales tumbled 15% in the quarter. Total revenue of $484 million was down 20.6%, missing estimates of $530 million, while earnings of $0.66 per share plunged 40% and missed expectations of $0.82 per share.
