Designer Brands Inc ( DBI ) shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected first-quarter earnings per share.

The company reported first-quarter FY24 sales growth of 0.6% year-on-year to $746.596 million, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $741.630 million. Total comparable sales decreased by 2.5%.

Adjusted EPS of $0.08 missed the analyst consensus estimate of $0.12.

Gross profit margin expanded 80 basis points Y/Y to 32.8%, and the gross profit climbed 3.1% to $245.1 million.

The operating margin was 1.3%, and operating income for the quarter plunged 52.2% to $9.4 million.

The company held $43.4 million in cash and equivalents as of May 4, 2024. The company ended the quarter with inventories of $620.5 million compared to $637.4 million for the same period last year.

The company had a total of 500 U.S. stores and 175 Canadian stores as of May 4, 2024.

Debt totaled $476.1 million at the end of the first quarter versus $390.3 million at the end of the same period last year.

On May 15, 2024, the company’s Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share of Class A and Class B common shares. The dividend will be paid on June 18 to shareholders of record on June 5.

Outlook Reaffirmed: Designer Brands ( DBI ) sees FY24 EPS $0.70 – $0.80 versus the consensus of $0.76.

The company expects FY24 net sales growth to be in low-single digits.

Price Action: DBI, which closed Monday’s trading session up 9.95% at $11.05, is trading lower by 15.8% at $9.31 in premarket at the last check Tuesday.