Stitch Fix shares soar as sales top estimates, styling service raises full-year outlook

Stitch Fix shares soared on Monday after the online shopping and styling service reported a narrower-than-expected loss in its fiscal third-quarter.

Sales topped analysts’ estimates, driven by consumers refreshing their wardrobes and looking for styles in new sizes.

The stock was recently up around 16% in extended trading.

Stitch Fix also raised its revenue outlook for the full year, after previously lowering it due to the uncertainty stemming from the Covid pandemic. And it offered a better-than-expected sales outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter.

President and incoming CEO Elizabeth Spaulding noted that as the apparel retail backdrop improves across the country, the company is building momentum.

Here’s how Stitch Fix did during the period ended May 1 compared with what analysts were anticipating, using Refinitiv estimates:

• Loss per share: 18 cents vs. 27 cents expected
• Revenue: $535.6 million vs. $511 million expected

Stitch Fix’s loss narrowed to $18.8 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a loss of $33.9 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier. That was better than the 27-cent loss expected by analysts.

Revenue grew 44% to $535.6 million from $371.7 million a year earlier, topping estimates for $511 million.

Its active client client count grew 20% year over year to 4.1 million, and was up 234,000 from the previous quarter. Stitch Fix defines active clients as people who have bought an item directly from its website in the preceding 52 weeks from the last day of the quarter.

Revenue per active client came in at $481, down 3% from a year earlier but up 3% from the prior quarter.

For fiscal 2021, Stitch Fix is now calling for revenue to be in the range of $2.07 billion to $2.08 billion, which would imply year-over-year growth of 20.9% to 21.5%. Earlier this year, it had lowered its annual sales forecast to a range for growth of 18% to 20%. Analysts have been looking for year-over-year revenue growth of 19.1%.

For the fourth quarter, it expects sales to be up 21.8% to 24% from a year earlier. Analysts had been looking for a 20.6% increase.

As of market close on Monday, Stitch Fix shares are down about 1% year to date. The company’s market cap is $6.2 billion.

Find the full financial press release from Stitch Fix here.