Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
BBBY,
sank toward a record low Thursday, after the troubled home-goods retailer warned of a big sales miss and launched a relatively large “at-the-market” offering of common stock.
The stock dove 16.7% in morning trading, putting it on track to close well below the previous record low of 78.6 cents on March 23, according to FactSet data. It was also headed for the ninth straight close below the $1 mark.
Read more: Bed Bath & Beyond stock falls below $1 after retailer calls for shareholder approval of reverse stock split.
The company said it expects net sales for its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended February, to fall to $1.2 billion from $2.05 billion in the same period a year ago. That’s below the FactSet consensus of $1.43 billion.
The company also expects same-store sales, or sales from stores and digital channels that have been operating for at least 12 months, to fall 40% to 50% from a year ago, while the FactSet consensus was for a decline of 28.3%.
The company said it expects to report fourth-quarter results at the end of April.
Bed Bath also said Thursday that it launched an “at-the-market” offering, which involves selling shares into the open market, of up to $300 million worth of common shares, through B. Riley.
That compares with the company’s current market capitalization of $78.3 million.
The company said it has also entered into a stock purchase agreement with B. Riley Principal Capital II to provide additional capital to the company, while simultaneously terminating its previous public offering of equity and warrants to buy convertible preferred stock.
Also read: Bed Bath & Beyond equity offering ‘one of the most unusual financing situations we have witnessed,’ analyst says.
And don’t miss: Bed Bath & Beyond’s lifeline comes at ‘incredible cost’ to shareholders, analyst warns.
“The actions we’ve taken have enabled us to create the necessary financial runway to begin restoring our iconic Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY businesses,” said Chief Executive Sue Gove on Thursday. “We have raised $360 million of equity capital since the beginning of February, cured our default under our credit agreement, repaid material amounts of our ABL [asset-based lending] facility, completed our interest payment for our Senior Notes, all while jump-starting our turnaround plans.”
The stock has plummeted 73.3% year-to-date, while the SPDR S&P Retail exchange-traded fund
XRT,
has tacked on 2.6% and the S&P 500 index
SPX,
has gained 5.4%.
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