By Sabrina Escobar
Consumer demand for luxury goods may be in a slump, but Ralph Lauren has bucked the trend.
The American fashion brand's fiscal fourth-quarter revenue increased 8% year over year to $1.7 billion, better than consensus estimates for $1.65 billion, according to FactSet. Revenue increased 10% in constant currency.
Adjusted earnings of $2.27 a share also were ahead of projections calling for $2.04.
"As the luxury sector ebbs and flows, our value proposition and emphasis on what we stand for -- quality, timelessness, the values that Ralph Lauren stands for -- it appears to be getting traction with the consumer, " said Justin Piccici, Ralph Lauren's chief financial officer on a call with Barron's.
While consumer sentiment has softened and macroeconomic uncertainty has increased, the company has yet to see any slowdown in sales.
Fiscal first-quarter guidance reflected that. The company is predicting revenue will grow by a percentage in the high-single digits in constant currency, while operating margin will expand about 1.5 to 2 percentage points.
That said, fiscal-year revenue guidance is more cautious as a result of higher macroeconomic uncertainty in North America, Piccici said. Ralph Lauren expects revenue to increase by a low-single digit percentage from last year. Analysts had penciled in a 4.4% increase.
"Happy to be proven wrong, but right now, I think it's it's certainly an uncertain environment that we're dealing with, particularly the second half of the year, and particularly for North America," he said.
Operating margin will expand "modestly" in constant currency. The outlook factors in tariffs as they stand today.
Shares of Ralph Lauren rose 1.5% to $278 in premarket trading Thursday. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were down 0.3%.
The company also announced a 10% increase in its quarterly cash dividend. The new dividend is $0.9125 a share for a total annual amount of $3.65 a share. The next dividend will be paid out on July 11, to shareholders of record on June 27.
Ralph Lauren's board also authorized a new plan to buy back $1.5 billion of stock.
Write to Sabrina Escobar at sabrina.escobar@barrons.com
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May 22, 2025 09:02 ET (13:02 GMT)
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