The company’s decision to slash its full-year forecast caught Wall Street off guard as it became clear the company hasn’t been able to get a handle on plunging sales at its duty-free shops across Asia. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Estée Lauder Cos chief financial officer Tracey Travis has defended the beauty company’s plans to turn around its business and cited “unprecedented volatility” as executives cut the outlook for the fourth time in the last 12 months.
The company’s decision to slash its full-year forecast – again – caught Wall Street off guard as it became clear the company hasn’t been able to get a handle on plunging sales at its duty-free shops across Asia.
Shares plunged by as much as 21% on Wednesday, hitting their lowest point since August 2017. The stock had already fallen 48% this year through Tuesday, as investors and analysts grow impatient with management’s promises to get its beauty business back on track.
“I can understand that,” Travis said, when asked about those concerns in an interview with Bloomberg News. “This is highly unusual for us.”
Travis said sales in the Americas and elsewhere were starting to pick up and that “progressively improving consumption” is giving executives “encouragement that we will continue on this path to recovery, at least at the pace that we guided to today.”
The owner of the MAC and Tom Ford brands has been floundering as customers aren’t spending as much as they were pre-pandemic. — Bloomberg
