Torrid Weathering Leadership Transitions, Still Well-Positioned Among Industry Peers, Analyst Says

Telsey Advisory analyst Dana Telsey reiterated a Outperform rating on the shares of Torrid Holdings Inc CURV with a $5 price target.

• Torrid announced the departure of CFO and COO Tim Martin on May 17, 2023.
• Martin, who has served in the dual-role for about 8 months, resigned in order to pursue other opportunities. The company appointed Paula Dempsey, currently SVP of Finance and Investor Relations, as an interim CFO.
• The analyst said Torrid has seen a lot of management turnover and leadership changes in the past year.
• Any leadership transition bears an element of risk, and the analyst views a lot of the recent changes as a deepening of management's bench by getting the right team in place to free up capacity and support critical functions.
• However, with CURV having gone through two CFOs and an interim CFO in a little over a year, it is likely to remain an overhang until a successor is named and the transition resolved.
• The analyst though remains encouraged by the continuity of Lisa Harper as CEO, and the continued influence of former CEO Liz Muñoz in the product and design department, which should provide stability.
• The management anticipates strong improvement in the back half of the year against easier compares and guided to FY23 sales above the market’s prior expectations.
• The analyst noted that the company has much of the leadership team remains intact, which should help in the execution of its strategic priorities.
• Telsey continues to believe that CURV is well-positioned among specialty apparel retailers as the market leader in the large, growing, and underserved U.S. women’s plus-size apparel space.

Price Action: CURV shares are trading lower by 6.35% at $2.80 at the last check Friday.

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