Guess? Trades Down After Q4 Results; Issues Weak Outlook

Retailer Guess? GES released its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results on Wednesday after the closing bell. The stock was last trading down almost 5 percent in the after hours in the wake of below-consensus first-quarter guidance. For the fourth-quarter, the company reported GAAP net income of $72.5 million or $0.85 per share, versus $92.8 million or $1.05 per share, in last year's corresponding quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company's net earnings were $81.3 million or $0.95 per share. Wall Street analysts had consensus EPS estimates of $0.87 heading into the quarter. Net revenue in the period was $815.11 million from $775.84 million last year. This easily beat consensus sales estimates of $785.29 million. Looking ahead to the first-quarter, the company said that it expects EPS between $0.05 and $0.10 and revenue between $545 million to $560 million. This compares to current analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.29 on revenue of $570.79 million. In light of the very weak Q1 guidance, it is surprising that the stock is not down even more in late trading. This name should be very active on Thursday as investors react to the retailer's weak outlook. Prior to the decline in Wednesday's after hours, GES had risen almost 10 percent in 2013.