Foot Locker shares slip after footwear group lowers annual guidance

Investing.com -- Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) shares shed just under a fourth of their value in early U.S. trading on Friday after the U.S. sports apparel group lowered its full-year financial guidance.

The New York-based company, known for its shoes stores manned by employees in striped uniforms, said it expects comparable store sales to slip by 7.5% to 9.0% in the 53 weeks ending on February 3, 2024, citing "softer sales through the balance of the year."

Its previous outlook had estimated that the figure would drop by 3.5% to 5.5%.

Annual earnings per share is now projected to be in range of $2.00 to $2.25, down from the prior guidance of $3.35 to $3.65.

The announcement comes after income per share in the first quarter tumbled by around 56% to $0.70, missing FactSet consensus forecasts of $0.76. Comparable brand sales also fell by more than anticipated as a push to bring down prices failed to boost customer demand.

"[O]ur sales have since softened meaningfully given the tough macroeconomic backdrop, causing us to reduce our guidance for the year as we take more aggressive markdowns to both drive demand and manage inventory," said President and Chief Executive Officer Mary Dillon in a statement.