Bath Body Works raises annual profit forecast after Q2 earnings beat

Bath Body Works reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday, August 26, though the personal care retailer continues to navigate weak store traffic and cautious consumer spending. The company’s earnings beat analyst estimates significantly, driven by digital sales growth and higher profitability, but it offered a cautious outlook for the current quarter.

For the quarter ended August 1, Bath Body Works posted net sales of $1.51 billion, a 2.3% decline from the prior year but slightly above the $1.50 billion consensus estimate. The company reported net income of $118 million, or $0.58 per diluted share. Adjusted for non-recurring costs, earnings per share were $0.62, well above the $0.24 average estimate from analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Operating income rose to $216 million from $157 million in the same period last year.

A key highlight was growth in direct-to-consumer sales, which increased 3% to $275 million in the U.S. and Canada, marking the first such increase since 2021. This digital momentum helped offset a 5.4% decline in U.S. and Canada store sales, which fell to $1.13 billion....