Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG) hasn't gotten much attention on Wall Street in recent years, but the stock has quietly been a top performer. Over the past five years, shares have risen nearly 300% driven by its Inspiring Brilliance transformation strategy, along with solid gains during the pandemic that the company has mostly maintained on the bottom line.

That track record didn't help Signet on Wednesday as shares fell 12.1% on its fourth-quarter earnings report. The world's biggest retailer of diamond jewelry continued to face headwinds from value-conscious consumers as same-store sales (comps) in the quarter fell 9.6%, and overall revenue, which benefited from an extra week, was down 6.3% to $2.5 billion, short of estimates at $2.55 billion.

Despite the sales decline, its new products performed well, and the company cut inventory levels by 10%, allowing it to achieve higher gross margins and lifting its adjusted operating margin from 15.2% to 16.4%.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com