Hooker Furnishings' stock tumbles toward worst day in 4 years as earnings hurt by retailers selling through 'over-inventoried' furnishings

Shares of Hooker Furnishings Corp. (HOFT) plunged 18% in light premarket trading Friday, putting them on track for the worst one-day performance since June 2019, after the maker of furniture and home decor products reported downbeat fiscal second-quarter results. "We believe the softer demand seen currently industry-wide is driven by retailers continuing to sell through over-inventoried positions and a short-term glut of heavily discounted home furnishings in the market," said Chief Executive Jeremy Hoff. Net income for the quarter to July 30 dropped to $785,000, or 7 cents a share, from $5.5 million, or 46 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales dropped 36.0% to $97.8 million. The average estimates of two analysts surveyed by FactSet was for earnings per share of 18 cents and sales of $127.2 million. The company said it expects demand to pick up in the second half of the year, as orders have been trending up for the past few months. The stock has run up 25.3% over the past three months through Thursday while the S&P 500 has gained 3.7%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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09-08-23 0654ET

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