Skip to content

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.

ASOS share price: where next after profit warning?

The online fashion retailer issued its second profit warning in seven months last week, sending its share price tumbling more than 21% helping short sellers cash in.

ASOS Source: Bloomberg

ASOS saw its share price tumble more than 21% after issuing its second profit warning n seven months on Thursday last week.

The online fashion retailer saw its stock fall from £27.46 to £21.60 in the early hours of Thursday last week, with its share continue to slide this week, sitting at £21.48 as of 11:30 GMT on Monday.

ASOS blames profit warning on IT blip in overseas warehouses

ASOS blamed its second profit warning of the year on an IT glitch that impacted its automated warehouse rollout in the US and Europe.

Despite the blip, the company still recorded sales growth of 12% in the four months to June 30. Sales in the UK and the rest of the world remained strong, but in Europe and the US revenues were held back by operational issues.

‘Embedding the change from the major overhaul of infrastructure and technology in our US and European warehouses has taken longer than we had anticipated, impacting our stock availability, sales and cost base in these regions,’ ASOS CEO Nick Beighton said.

‘Where we have been unencumbered by these issues we have seen robust growth and overall our customer momentum is improving with the business hitting 20m active customers globally for the first time,’ he added.

Practise trading ASOS and other retail stocks with an IG demo account.

Short-sellers profit from ailing ASOS

Hedge funds have made significant profit shorting ASOS’ stock over the last 12 months of trading, which saw the online fashion retailer issue three profit warnings and is share price sliding more than 65%.

According to shorttracker, fund managers collectively hold a 4.37% holding against ASOS, with US-based hedge fund AQR Capital Management holding a 1.79% short position against the stock.

‘The latest profit warning comes after a frustrating year for the retailer,’ Marcus Morris-Eyton, portfolio manager at Allianz told The Times.

‘It is reassuring to see the chief executive and chairman buying shares, but this profit warning again delays the hoped-for margin recovery at Asos and comes at a time when investor confidence is low in the sector.’

This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Australia Pty Ltd. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients.

See an opportunity to trade?

Go long or short on more than 17,000 markets with IG.

Trade CFDs on our award-winning platform, with low spreads on indices, shares, commodities and more.

Live prices on most popular markets

  • Forex
  • Shares
  • Indices

You might be interested in…

Find out what charges your trades could incur with our transparent fee structure.

Discover why so many clients choose us, and what makes us a world-leading provider of CFDs.

Stay on top of upcoming market-moving events with our customisable economic calendar.