Staples Falls 17% After Q2 Earnings

Shares of Staples

are under heavy pressure on Wednesday after the company released its fiscal second-quarter earnings results prior to the opening bell. Staples reported net income of $120.43 million or $0.18 per share, compared to $176.44 million or $0.25 per share, in the year ago period. This missed Wall Street analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.22. Total sales for the period were down 6 percent to $5.50 billion. This also missed analysts' consensus revenue estimates of $5.72 billion. Citing weak trends in the quarter, Staples said that it is adopting a more conservative sales and earnings outlook and trimmed its growth forecast for the year. Staples' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ron Sargent said, "We continue to build momentum in categories beyond office supplies, but these improvements were more than offset by weakness in computers and core office supplies during the second quarter." During Wednesday's trading session, SPLS has fallen more than 17 percent and was trading at $11.27 around mid-day.