Designer Brands Sounds Tariff Alarm After Weak Quarter, Stock Plummets

Designer Brands Inc. (NYSE:DBI) shares are trading lower on Tuesday after the company released its first-quarter results.

The footwear and accessories company reported an adjusted loss of 26 cents per share, missing the Street view of 6 cents loss.

Quarterly sales of $686.91 million (down 8% year over year) missed the analyst consensus estimate of $732.81 million. Total comparable sales decreased by 7.8%.

Also Read: Designer Brands Gears Up For Q1 Print; Here Are The Recent Forecast Changes From Wall Street’s Most Accurate Analysts

“We experienced a soft start to 2025 amid an unpredictable macro environment and deteriorating consumer sentiment,” stated CEO Doug Howe. 

Gross profit decreased to $295.1 million compared to $330.0 million last year. The quarterly gross margin was 43.0% compared to 44.2% last year.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $46 million at the end of the first quarter, compared to $43.4 million at the end of the same period last year.

Debt totaled $522.9 million at the end of the first quarter of 2025 compared to $476.1 million at the end of the same period last year.

The company ended the first quarter with inventories of $623.6 million compared to $620.5 million at the end of the same period last year.

The total number of stores decreased slightly to 669 (11,006 square footage) from 675 (11,210 square footage) in the previous year.

“We have shifted our near-term focus to amplifying value in our retail channels, preserving margins, controlling costs, and mitigating the impact of tariffs as part of our response to this volatility,” the CEO added. “We expect to deliver between $20 million to $30 million in cost savings over the course of 2025.”

Designer Brands is retracting its full-year 2025 guidance. This decision stems from macroeconomic uncertainties, largely attributed to global trade policies.

The company said it will pay a dividend of $0.05 per share on June 18 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 5.

Price Action: DBI shares are trading lower by 24.8% to $2.80 at last check Tuesday.

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