Shares of retailer Chewy had their worst day in a year. What disappointed investors?

Shares of pet supply retailer Chewy fell after the earnings report / Photo: Facebook/Chewy
Shares of Chewy, an online pet supplies retailer, plummeted nearly 11% on September 9, marking their worst performance of the year. The company’s quarterly sales failed to impress investors, according to Barron’s.
Details
Chewy’s stock plummeted 10.8% on the New York Stock Exchange on September 9, falling to $20.75. This marked the largest one-day decline in a year, according to Barron’s. Trading volume in the company’s stock was 2.5 times the average daily volume, according to Yahoo Finance data.
The stock price fell after the retailer reported its financial results for the quarter ended August 2. Its net revenue rose 7.3% year-over-year to $3.33 billion, while adjusted earnings per share rose 9% to $0.33. Both figures were somewhat underwhelming and roughly in line with Wall Street’s forecasts, according to Barron’s.
Nevertheless, Chewy raised its net revenue forecast for the fiscal year ending February 1. The company had previously expected this figure to range from $13.4 billion to $13.55 billion; it now expects it to be between $13.46 billion and $13.57 billion. The midpoint of the new range is above Wall Street’s expectations of $13.48 billion, according to Barron’s.
What Analysts Are Saying
“As expected, Chewy reported rather mixed results for the second quarter,” wrote William Blair analyst Dylan Carden, whose comments were cited by Barron’s. He notes that the retailer’s gross profit came in above expectations, but believes this was largely driven by factors that management described as insignificant—such as import duty refunds. Furthermore, Carden believes the company’s forecasts imply that there will be no significant improvement in the industry.
Following the release of quarterly results, analysts at Evercore ISI Group downgraded their rating on Chewy shares from “Outperform” (better than the market, equivalent to a “buy” recommendation) to “In Line” (in line with the market, a hold recommendation), setting a price target of $25, according to Yahoo Finance. This is approximately 20% above the closing price on September 9.



