Quiksilver shares plunge after weak quarterly earnings

Quiksilver Inc. shares plunged 41% to $3.41 on Tuesday, a day after the surfwear company reported a sizable fall in its second-quarter earnings.

Shares of the Huntington Beach retailer, which owns its namesake brand as well as action-sports labels Roxy and DC, dropped as low as 46% drop during the day, the largest intraday decline since the company went public in 1986.

“There is an expectation that business will continue to be challenged in the near term,” said Mitch Kummetz, a senior analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. “There is disappointment that changes expected of the new management hasn’t really come to pass.”

Kummetz specifically pointed to plans launched last year to boost profitability at Quiksilver by slashing costs and focusing on its core brands. But the company disappointed Wall Street by pushing back the target date for achieving its plan.

For the three months ended April 30, Quiksilver reported a net loss of $53.1 million, or 27 cents a share. That’s compared with a loss of $32.4 million, or 20 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue fell 10% to $408.2 million.

Chief Executive Andy Mooney said wholesale sales fell in North America and Europe.

“We again reduced our expense structure, increased sales in our direct to consumer channels and emerging markets,” he said in a statement. But “these improvements were offset by decreased net revenues in our wholesale channel.”

The retailer, which primarily makes apparel for those into surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding, said general sales trends will likely continue in the second half of the fiscal year.

Quilsilver and other action-sports retailers have been squeezed in recent years by more price-conscious teenagers and increased competition from fast-fashion retailers such as H&M and Forever 21, said analyst Kummetz.

Many mom-and-pop surf shops have also closed down in the years during and since the Great Recession, he said.

“Some of the industry dynamics have changed,” Kummetz said. “There is also a general lack of a trend with surf, skate and snow, appealing to a broader mainstream consumer.”