Shares of value retailer $Five Below (FIVE.US)$ are diving Wednesday after the company announced a CEO transition and provided updated guidance for the second quarter. Multiple analysts downgraded the stock and slashed price targets following the announcements.
Five Below announced that Joel Anderson stepped down from his roles as president and CEO to pursue other interests. Anderson will also step down from the company's board.
COO Kenneth Bull has been named interim president and CEO, effective immediately. Five Below co-founder, non-executive chairman and former CEO Thomas Vellios will assume the role of executive chairman on an interim basis to support the executive leadership team while the board looks for a permanent CEO.
Five Below also announced that total sales for the 10 weeks ending July 13 increased 9.5% on a year-over-year basis, but said comparable sales fell 5%.
As a result, the company now expects second-quarter sales of $820 million to $826 million and anticipates a 6% to 7% decrease in comparable sales. Diluted income per common share is expected to be in the range of 53 cents to 56 cents per share.
Analyst Changes:
Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman downgraded Five Below from Overweight to Equal-Weight and lowered the price target from $160 to $100.
Truist Securities analyst Scot Ciccarelli downgraded Five Below from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $136 to $89.
Evercore ISI Group analyst Michael Montani downgraded Five Below from Outperform to In-Line and lowered the price target from $160 to $113.
Mizuho analyst David Bellinger downgraded Five Below from Outperform to Neutral and lowered the price target from $150 to $85.
BofA Securities analyst Melanie Nunez maintained Five Below with a Neutral and lowered the price target from $125 to $104.