From doghouse to penthouse — Petco’sWOOF

stock might finally be getting the treat it’s been waiting for. After a 90% decline since 2021, the pet retailer is showing early signs of revival under new CEO Joel Anderson. With a 29% stock surge Thursday — which followed an 86.4% earnings beat — the company’s downward path “is likely changing,” says an RBCRBCPF

analyst.

• Petco’s 2025 EBITDA forecast of $375M-$390M exceeded analysts’ $367M expectations, according to Bloomberg — representing a 13.7% growth, its first increase since the pandemic boom.
• The legacy pet brand’s woes stem from its pandemic-era wellness pivot, which CEO Anderson admits “went too far” — eliminating artificial ingredients, buying veterinary hospitals at peak prices, and failing to anticipate a value shift when stimulus dried up.

New tricks: Anderson’s multi-pronged revival strategy targets profitability by closing underperforming stores, expanding low-cost private-label offerings, and leaning into pet-human matching trends. Still, with e-commerce competitor ChewyCHWY

reporting 15% sales growth, the brick-and-mortar retailer must prove it can fetch back the customers it “fired … who preferred those lower-priced items and didn’t trade up.” Otherwise, this old dog’s new tricks may not be enough to escape its self-imposed pound.