Kate Spade Gains 2% On Inline Earnings Print, Sales Fall Short Of Expectations

Shares of Kate Spade & Co (NYSE: KATE) were trading higher by around 2 percent after the company reported its fourth-quarter results.

Kate Spade said that it earned $0.32 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $429 million. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.32 per share on revenue of $441.6 million.

Net sales for the quarter rose 13.9 percent year-over-year (excluding sales for wind-down operations and excluding the impact of foreign currency fluctuations), while comparable sales per square foot for Kate Spade New York stores rose to $1,588 for the latest 12 months, compared to $1,503 for the 12-month period ending October 3, 2015.

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Direct-to-consumer comparable sales growth was 14 percent, or 9 percent excluding e-commerce.

Net income for the quarter fell to $61.464 million from $126.524 million a year ago.

Overview

Craig A. Leavitt, Chief Executive Officer of Kate Spade & Company, said: "In 2015, we became a stronger, refocused Kate Spade & Company. We made significant progress along our two axes of growth – product category and geographic expansion – introducing 14 new product categories and entering 8 new countries. Our results reflect our success, with sales growth of 21 percent on a pro forma basis over last year. In addition, our quality of sale efforts are successfully fueling brand aspiration and our channel-agnostic approach was a key driver of growth both during the fourth quarter and throughout 2015. We will continue to prioritize these important points of differentiation in 2016."

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