Ascena Retail Group Plunges Following Q3 Results

Shares of

were trading down sharply in Tuesday's after hours session after the company released its fiscal Q3 earnings results after the closing bell. The company missed both Wall Street consensus earnings and revenue estimates. In late trade, ASNA was last down around 7.50 percent to $18.38. For Q3, Ascena reported net income of $31.2 million or $0.19 per share, compared to $49.4 million or $0.31 per share, in the year ago period. On an adjusted basis, net income was $0.26 per share versus $0.34 per share last year. This missed analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.30. Sales in the quarter were up 46 percent to $1.14 billion from $783.3 million in last year's third-quarter. This also came up short of Wall Street sales expectations of $1.17 billion. Gross margin in the quarter fell to 57.6 percent from 58.7 percent last year. Looking ahead, the company lowered its full-year adjusted EPS outlook. Ascena now expects EPS of $1.10 to $1.15 compared to its previous estimate of $1.20 to $1.30. Currently, analysts have consensus EPS estimates of $1.26 for fiscal 2013.