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Factors to Influence Children's Place's (PLCE) Q1 Earnings

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The Children's Place, Inc. (PLCE - Free Report) is likely to witness a decline in both the top and bottom lines when it reports first-quarter fiscal 2023 numbers on May 18. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $338.7 million, suggesting a decline of 6.5% from the prior-year reported figure.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly loss per share has been unchanged at $1.77 over the past 30 days. It suggests a sharp decline of 268.6% from the earnings of $1.05 per share reported in the year-ago period.

In the last reported quarter, the children's specialty apparel retailer delivered a positive earnings surprise of 7.4%. However, it delivered a negative earnings surprise of 69.1%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

The Children's Place, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

The Children's Place, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

The Children's Place, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | The Children's Place, Inc. Quote

Key Factors to Note

The Children’s Place has been grappling with soft consumer demand due to unprecedented inflation, increased promotional activity from key competitors and supply-chain issues. This, along with higher airfreight expense, container costs and elevated marketing spend, is expected to have dented the fiscal first-quarter performance.

On its last reported quarter’s earnings call, management expected first-quarter fiscal 2023 net sales in the range of $335 million to $345 million, representing a decline in the mid-single digit percentage range from the prior-year quarter. The company expects first-quarter gross margin to decline by approximately 1,000 basis points. Further, PLCE’s adjusted operating loss for the fiscal first quarter is likely to come in the band of 6.5- 8% of net sales.

The Children's Place envisions first-quarter adjusted loss per share of $1.60 to $1.90, down from the adjusted earnings per share of $1.05 reported in the year-ago period. The company also anticipates to incur approximately $5 million of capital expenditures in the said quarter.

Despite the aforementioned headwinds, the company has been making efforts to get back on track by focusing on its superior products, digital transformation, wholesale & international expansion and fleet optimization.

Also, investments to upgrade its omni-channel capabilities as part of its Digital Transformation strategy bode well. The company expects costs to decline in the second half of fiscal 2023 as the global supply chain environment gradually normalizes.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for The Children's Place this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

The Children's Place has an Earnings ESP of -0.57% and a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

3 Stocks With Favorable Combination   

Here are three companies that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in the upcoming releases:

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +2.90% and a Zacks Rank of 2. The company is likely to register top- and bottom-line growth when it reports second-quarter fiscal 2023 results on Jul 27, 2023. The consensus mark for AMZN’s quarterly revenues is pegged at $131.6 billion, which suggests growth of 8.5% from the figure reported in the prior-year quarter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AMZN’s earnings have moved up by a penny to 33 cents per share in the past 30 days. Also, the consensus estimate indicates 230% growth from the figures reported in the year-ago quarter.

Target Corporation (TGT - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.40% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is likely to register top-line growth when it reports first-quarter fiscal 2023 results on May 17, 2023. The consensus mark for TGT’s quarterly revenues is pegged at $25.37 billion, which suggests 0.8% growth from the figure reported in the prior-year quarter.

The consensus mark for TGT’s quarterly earnings have declined by 2 pennies in the past 30 days to $1.75 per share. The consensus estimate suggests a decline of 20.1% from the year-ago quarter.

DICK'S Sporting Goods (DKS - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +3.39% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is likely to register growth in the top and bottom lines when it reports first-quarter fiscal 2023 numbers on May 23, 2023. The consensus mark for DKS’ quarterly earnings has remained unchanged in the past 30 days at $3.18 per share. Also, the consensus estimate suggests growth of 11.6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported number.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DKS’ quarterly revenues is pegged at $2.8 billion, which suggests an increase of 4.7% from the figure reported in the prior-year quarter.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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