Aritzia (DOG)
ATZ - TSX
Aritzia’s business is good – a little too good, apparently. After a year in which revenue surged 47 per cent to nearly $2.2-billion, the Vancouver-based clothing retailer said its focus this year will be on building infrastructure to support its booming growth. But the investments – which include a new 550,000-square-foot distribution centre near Toronto, additional office space and a “repositioning” of three flagship stores in Manhattan – are expected to put a dent in Aritzia’s bottom line, which is already feeling the pinch from rising product costs and higher wages. With analysts slashing their price targets on the news, the stock sank more than 20 per cent. Maybe Aritzia should try to not be so successful.
Shopify (STAR)
SHOP - TSX
Shopify investors last year: “Sell! Sell! For the love of God, sell!” Shopify investors this year: “Buy! Buy! Buy!” After plunging more than 80 per cent, shares of the e-commerce software provider have staged a remarkable rebound in recent months as the company takes steps to streamline its business and reinvigorate growth. This week, the stock soared after Shopify said it is cutting about 20 per cent of its work force and selling its delivery and warehousing operations, prompting analysts to hike their price targets on the shares. Don’t feel too badly for the laid-off employees: They get to keep their home-office furniture provided by the company. How generous.
Estee Lauder (DOG)
EL - NYSE
Who needs lipstick and mascara when you’re working from home? Shares of Estee Lauder Cos. tumbled after the cosmetics giant – whose brands include MAC, La Mer and Clinique – warned that sales for the year ending in June will fall by 10 to 12 per cent, down from a previous forecast for a decline of 5 to 7 per cent. With demand for cosmetics also slumping amid a slow recovery in the Asian travel market, the company slashed its forecast for adjusted earnings per share by about 32 per cent. Now that Estee Lauder’s stock has dropped nearly 30 per cent from its February peak, investors’ makeup is running from all the tears.
Wingstop (STAR)
WING - Nasdaq
Business quiz! Shares of Wingstop soared to a record high after the restaurant chain: a) said its two-for-one bat and seagull wings promotion “met with strong demand from consumers seeking ways to cope with inflation”; b) announced a special dividend consisting of a coupon for an eight-piece wing combo with fries, dipping sauce and a beverage; c) posted U.S. same-store sales growth of 20.1 per cent in the first quarter as net income jumped 80.6 per cent to US$15.7-million or 52 US cents a share, topping expectations. Answer: c.
Starbucks (DOG)
SBUX - Nasdaq
You know when your coffee is so hot you need to let it cool down before taking a sip? Starbucks investors should have treated its red-hot stock with the same level of caution. After rising about 50 per cent in the past year, the shares were vulnerable to the slightest whiff of trouble. This week, even as the coffee chain’s fiscal second-quarter revenue and earnings blew past estimates – including global sales that surged 14 per cent to US$8.7-billion – the company’s failure to boost its full-year guidance raised concerns that growth is poised to slow. With the stock taking its biggest intraday drop since October, 2021, investors were left with a bitter taste in their mouths.