Shares of Sleep Number Corp. tanked 30% in the after-hours session Tuesday after the mattress maker and retailer swung to a surprise quarterly loss, predicted a loss for the full year and said it reached an agreement with a shareholder that had been pushing for change.
It was a “challenging” quarter for Sleep Number
SNBR,
and the bedding industry, Chief Executive Shelly Ibach said. “The consumer demand trajectory changed abruptly midway through the quarter,” Ibach said.
Sleep Number “acted quickly to further reduce costs, recalibrate our sales and marketing approach, and amend our credit agreement to provide additional covenant flexibility through the end of 2024,” she said.
Sleep Number lost $2.32 million, or 10 cents a share, in the third quarter, versus earnings of $5 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue dropped 13% to $473 million, the company said.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected the company to earn 16 cents a share on sales of $509 million in the quarter.
Sleep Number also kicked off a plan to reduce costs in light of the lower demand. It hopes the plan will result in about $50 million less in operating expenses next year, the company said.
The cost-restructuring actions are “broad-based” and include layoffs as well as store closures, the company said.
The layoffs will occur “across all areas of the organization,” including in corporate and research and development, the company said. It plans to close 40 to 50 stores by the end of next year, and slow down the rate of new-store openings and remodels.
The restructuring will result in up to $20 million in one-time costs, with about $10 million of the costs falling in the fourth quarter, the company said.
Sleep Number also dialed back its 2023 EPS outlook, calling for a per-share loss of up to 70 cents, including the fourth-quarter restructuring charges.
That compares with a July guidance of 2023 EPS in a range between $1.25 and $1.75.
Separately, Sleep Number appointed Stephen E. Macadam and Hilary A. Schneider to its board, effective immediately, expanding the board to 12 people.
In conjunction with the appointments, Sleep Number entered into a cooperation agreement with shareholder Stadium Capital Management LLC.
As part of the agreement, the board has established a “capital allocation and value enhancement committee” to review capital use and investments, it said.
Independent director Michael J. Harrison said that the company was “grateful to have reached an agreement with Stadium Capital on a constructive path forward and are looking forward to working with Steve and Hilary toward our common goal of delivering long-term value for our shareholders.”
Stadium Capital, which owns about 9% of Sleep Number, published a letter in September criticizing the company, its executives, and the “abysmal” shareholder returns.
Shares of Sleep Number have lost 38% so far this year, contrasting with gains of about 14% for the S&P 500 index
SPX.
