By Sabela Ojea

Shares of Oxford Industries fell after the company provided an outlook for the fiscal first quarter and year as a whole that missed Wall Street expectations as it warned about the impact of new tariffs.

The apparel company's stock was down 9.7% to $56.45 in Thursday's postmarket trading. Through the close, shares have fallen 44% over the past 12 months.

The owner of Tommy Bahama and Lilly Pulitzer guided for first-quarter sales of $375 million to $395 million and full-year revenue between $1.49 billion and $1.53 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast higher first-quarter and full-year revenue of $401 million and $1.54 billion, respectively.

Chief Executive Tom Chubb said Oxford's outlook came as the company dealt with softer demand in January when compared to December.

"As we moved into January, we experienced a moderation in demand which we attribute to the recent pattern of consumers retreating when there isn't a reason to spend combined with a deterioration in consumer sentiment," Chubb said on a call with analysts. "In the in-between times, we anticipate the consumer will be more hesitant to spend given the uncertainty in the current marketplace."

Oxford also expects gross margins to decrease in 2025 between 50 basis points and 100 basis points, primarily driven by the impact of tariffs and the expectation of lower proportion of full-priced direct-to-consumer sales. The forecast includes an unmitigated tariff impact of around $9 million to $10 million, or about $0.45 to $0.50 per share, on goods made in China.

Some of the measures the company has taken include making orders ahead of the effective date of new tariffs, which helped it end its fiscal 2024 with inventory levels up 5% on early receipts of shipments from Asia to avoid new tariffs, and sourcing shifts to countries with lower duty and tariff rates.

"We expect to be able to materially mitigate the impact of the known and implemented tariffs by the spring of 2026 through these mitigation actions," Finance Chief Scott Grassmyer said on the earnings call.

In the fourth quarter, Oxford swung to a profit, but reported lower revenue that also came below Wall Street expectations.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 27, 2025 18:27 ET (22:27 GMT)

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