By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop plunged on Thursday and were on pace for a record daily percentage drop after the retailer of customized stuffed animals reduced its revenue outlook for the second time this year and fired its chief growth officer.
The stock was down more than 29% in afternoon trading after hitting its lowest level in about two years. Including the session move, the stock is down about 55% for the year so far.
On an earnings call following its results, Build-A-Bear said it was unable to renew a multimillion-dollar partnership with Walmart, and that other wholesale opportunities are progressing slower than expected.
The company lowered its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook to a range of $500 million to $525 million from its previous guidance of $530 million to $550 million.
“The updated outlook is below consensus on all line items and now bakes in weaker back half profitability as we think BBW still faces some incremental tariff cost pressure,” D.A. Davidson & Co analysts, who have a “buy” rating on the stock, wrote in a note following the results.
Build-A-Bear said its fiscal year outlook reflects $10 million to $11 million of ongoing tariffs and related costs.
The company also terminated the employment of Chief Growth Officer David Henderson, without cause, effective Wednesday.
The retailer had already cut its full-year revenue forecast in May, citing softer traffic at its stores. It announced in March that its longtime CEO Sharon Price John would retire in June and be succeeded by Chris Hurt, who at the time was the company’s chief operations and experience officer.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Lance Tupper; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
