Chico’s FAS(US:CHS)2023-08-29 12:27Financial Performance - Q2 2023 net sales reached $545.1 million [7], compared to $558.7 million in Q2 2022 [24] - Comparable sales decreased by 3.0% year-over-year, but showed a two-year stack increase of 16.5% [7] - The company reported an operating margin of 8.5% [7] - Gross margin was 39.8% [23], compared to 41.4% in Q2 2022 [24] - Diluted EPS was $0.49, with an adjusted diluted EPS of $0.28, excluding a $0.21 non-cash tax benefit [9, 120] - Total liquidity at the end of Q2 2023 was $386 million [23] Brand Performance - Soma's net sales increased by 2.1% year-over-year [33, 118] - Chico's brand net sales were $274.2 million [27] - WHBM (White House Black Market) net sales were $150.0 million [127] Digital and Customer Engagement - Digital penetration accounted for 46% of total net sales in FY2022 [46] - Chico's brand experienced a 3.9% year-over-year customer growth [124] - Soma customer count decreased 0.9% year-over-year [33] Strategic Priorities and Outlook - The company's strategic pillars include being customer-led, product-obsessed, digital-first, and operationally excellent [114, 115] - Q3 2023 consolidated net sales are projected to be between $505 million and $525 million [71] - Full-year 2023 consolidated net sales are projected to be between $2.145 billion and $2.175 billion [71] - Capital and cloud-based expenditures are expected to be between $75 million and $85 million for the full year 2023 [73]