Staples shares retreat the most in almost seven months on Thursday, retailer’s Q4 earnings and sales fall short of expectations

On March 9th Staples Inc (SPLS) reported lower-than-projected quarterly earnings and sales, which led to the sharpest drop in its shares in almost seven months.

Staples shares registered their largest daily slump since August 17th 2016 on Thursday. The stock went down 5.25% ($0.47) to $8.49, after touching an intraday low at $8.35, or a price level not seen since November 10th 2016 ($8.12). In the week ended on March 5th the shares of the office supplies retailer lost 3.12% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of decline and also the worst performance since the week ended on December 25th. The stock has extended its slump to 5.56% so far during the current month, following a 2.28% drop in February. For the entire past year, the shares of the NASDAQ-listed retailer lost 4.44%.

Staples earnings per share were reported at $0.25 during the fourth quarter of 2016, pressured by impairment charges of approximately $791 million. In comparison, the median forecast by analysts had pointed to earnings of $0.26 per share.

At the same time, total sales were reported at $4.6 billion during the period, or again a figure below market consensus ($5 billion). Staples comparable store sales shrank 7%, with the retailers plan, which envisages the closure of 70 stores in North America, already being in motion.

Staples now projects its earnings per share to be within the range between $0.15 and $0.18 during the first quarter of 2017, which is in unison with the Wall Street estimate.

“Our fourth quarter results were right in-line with our expectations”, Shira Goodman, the companys Chief Executive Officer, said, cited by Reuters. “I’m increasingly confident that we have the right plan and the right team to transform Staples and get back to sustainable sales and earnings growth.”

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Staples stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $8.57
R2 – $8.64
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $8.72
R4 (Long Breakout) – $8.94
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $9.20
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $9.32

S1 – $8.41
S2 – $8.34
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $8.26
S4 (Short Breakout) – $8.04
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $7.78
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $7.66

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Staples Inc (SPLS) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $9.06
R1 – $9.30
R2 – $9.61
R3 – $9.85
R4 – $10.09

S1 – $8.75
S2 – $8.51
S3 – $8.20
S4 – $7.89