Bear of the Day: RH (RH)

RH (RH) is a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and the Bear of the Day. Once a darling of the high-end home furnishings space, the company is navigating a difficult combination of earnings disappointment, a weakening near-term outlook, and mounting cost pressures. 

About the Company

Formerly known as Restoration Hardware, RH operates as a retailer and lifestyle brand in the home furnishings market. The company sells furniture, lighting, textiles, bath ware, décor, outdoor and garden furnishings, and baby, child, and teen furnishings through galleries, interior design studios, outlets, guesthouses, and showrooms, as well as through hospitality, website, and trade channels.

RH operates through three segments: RH Segment, Waterworks, and Real Estate. Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Corte Madera, California, the company has built a premium brand with a loyal customer base. However, that brand is being tested right now by macro headwinds and self-inflicted execution challenges.

RH has a market cap of $2B, with a Zacks Style Score of “B” in Growth and Value.

Q4 Earnings Miss

RH's fourth quarter was a clear miss. The company reported adjusted EPS of $1.53 against expectations of $2.21, a 31% shortfall. Revenue came in at $843 million versus the $872 million consensus. Management cited approximately $30 million in revenue headwinds from tariff-related resourcing that drove higher-than-expected backorder and special-order balances.

On the margin front there was a silver lining, with adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.7% improved modestly from 17.1% a year ago, and adjusted operating margin ticked up to 11.5% from 11.3%. But the headline miss and the forward guidance overshadowed any positive margin read-through.

For Q1, RH guided revenue growth of -2% to -4% against a consensus expectation of +8%, a dramatic swing in the wrong direction. Adjusted EBITDA margin guidance of 14–15% reflects approximately 420 basis points of drag from pre-opening and startup costs tied to international expansion.

For the full year, RH guided revenue growth of 4–8% versus the 9.6% consensus, with adjusted EBITDA margins of 14–16%. Again, weighed down by roughly 270 basis points of international expansion costs.

The message to investors is clear: the next several quarters will be a show-me period as the company absorbs heavy investment costs before the international buildout begins to contribute meaningfully.

Estimates And Pirce Targets Fall After Earnings

Ugly revisions to the down side across all time frames. Analyst slashed the current quarter from $0.88 to -$1.49. For the current year, numbers have been taken down from $10.22 to $7.66.

Analyst price target cuts have been swift and broad following the print.

Goldman Sachs reiterated a Sell rating, cutting its target to $88 from $101. Citigroup reiterated Neutral and cut to $150 from $183. Guggenheim cut to $200 from $275 while maintaining its Buy. Barclays cut to $202 from $283 but held its Overweight.

The wide dispersion in price targets reflects genuine uncertainty about how the international expansion plays out, but the direction of revisions is uniformly lower. And Goldman's Sell at $88 is a reminder that meaningful downside remains on the table.

Technical Take

Let’s look at some moving averages:

21-day: $130

50-day: $166

200-day: $188

Those moving averages seem unachievable unless the earnings story turns. Looking to the downside the COVID low was in the $75 area, a spot the bears will no doubt be looking for.

In Summary

RH is dealing with a perfect storm of a big earnings miss, a Q1 guide that shocked to the downside, tariff-related disruptions, and a margin profile that will be under pressure for several quarters. Until the company can demonstrate that the international buildout is on track and domestic demand is stabilizing, the stock carries meaningful risk to the downside.

For now, investors looking at the space, can look at Wayfair (W). While the stock is also seeing estimates trend lower, it is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).  

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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