Step One's Bull Sees Margins Sacrificed for Sales -- Market Talk
Dow Jones
Jul 28, 2025
0042 GMT - Step One Clothing's latest trading update encapsulates perfectly the current environment for Australian retailers, according to its bulls at Bell Potter. The underwear maker sacrificed gross margins to sustain modest sales growth, missing earnings forecasts from analysts Leo Armati and Chami Ratnapala. They tell clients in a note that Step One probably kept a lid on marketing costs, leaving elevated levels of discounting as the likely driver of the miss. However, they are comforted by the company's resilient profitability and keep a buy rating on the stock. Its target price is trimmed 3.8% to A$1.25. Shares are up 2.1% at A$0.715. (stuart.condie@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 27, 2025 20:42 ET (00:42 GMT)
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