Sometimes a company can have a disastrous earnings report but still produce a huge day of advances. Clothing retailer Express (NYSE:EXPR) delivered a downer of an earnings report. However, having several irons in the fire was enough to convince investors to push up its share price by almost 40%
Express earnings were a catastrophe. The company posted a loss of $0.50 per share, which swamped analysts’ consensus figures that were calling for a loss of $0.28 per share. Revenue was a similar downer, coming in at $434.1 million against a consensus of $451.77 million.
The story behind the loss was a familiar one: clothing retailers were taking a beating as consumers pulled the reins on their spending and left the clothiers shorthanded. However, Express didn’t take this news lying down.
The company announced a new joint venture with WHP Global, a company that contains brands like Anne Klein, Joe’s Jeans, and the recently-defunct Toys ‘R’ Us in its portfolio. WHP Global is set to buy 5.4 million shares of Express at $4.60 each. That’s better than double the current share price, even after the run-up seen on Thursday.
