By Denny Jacob
Leslie’s, a direct-to-consumer pool and spa care services company, experienced a significant 18% drop in its shares to $7.80 in after-hours trading on Thursday. This unfortunate decline came as a response to the challenges faced in the third quarter, which are expected to persist through the fourth quarter.
The stock had already seen a decrease of 2.6% before closing at $9.52, bringing its total year-to-date loss to 22%.
Leslie’s now anticipates sales for the fiscal year 2023 to be in the range of $1.43 billion and $1.45 billion, with net income falling between $33 million and $40 million, and adjusted per-share earnings ranging from 28 cents to 32 cents. Initially, the company had predicted sales between $1.56 billion and $1.64 billion, net income ranging from $131 million to $146 million, and adjusted per-share earnings between 78 cents and 86 cents.
These reduced projections were made following Leslie’s announcement that preliminary third-quarter sales are expected to decline by 12% to $611 million. This figure falls short of the $701.3 million expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Chief Executive Mike Egeck acknowledged that these results were disappointing, with a decline in traffic observed in both residential and professional business sectors.