Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc ( WOOF ) stock plunged 23.9% to $2.755 Friday morning after the company issued weaker-than-expected first-quarter sales and a cautious outlook.

What To Know: The pet retailer reported first-quarter net sales of $1.49 billion, slightly below Wall Street expectations of $1.5 billion and down 2.3% from $1.53 billion a year earlier. Comparable sales dropped 1.3% year-over-year.

Despite the revenue miss, Petco's quarterly loss of 4 cents per share matched analyst estimates and remained flat compared to last year. Gross margin improved slightly to 38.2%, while operating income rose to $16.4 million from a loss in the prior year, signaling some cost improvements.

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CEO Joel Anderson reaffirmed Petco's full-year 2025 outlook, now factoring in ongoing U.S. tariffs, and emphasized efforts to restore profitability through operational improvements. For the full year, the company expects net sales to decline in the low single digits, with adjusted EBITDA forecasted between $375 million and $390 million.

Petco also provided second-quarter guidance, projecting continued modest revenue declines and adjusted EBITDA between $92 million and $94 million.

Investors appeared unimpressed, driving shares sharply lower as concerns linger over weak consumer demand and competitive pressures in the pet retail space.

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How To Buy WOOF Stock

Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument.

For example, in Petco Health and Wellness’ case, it is in the Consumer Discretionary sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, WOOF has a 52-week high of $6.29 and a 52-week low of $2.23.

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