Victoria’s Secret shares fell Thursday after second-quarter net sales rose 10% to $1.61B, just below Wall Street’s estimate.
The reaction shows how far expectations had moved ahead of the report, after Victoria’s Secret stock had gained ~57% in 2026 through Wednesday’s close under CEO Hillary Super.
Investors wanted acceleration
Comparable sales rose 9% in the second quarter, above FactSet’s consensus, but slower than the 13% gain in the fiscal first quarter.
The sales miss also ended a nine-quarter streak of top-line beats, despite net sales landing near the high end of the company’s own prior range.
Net income jumped to $183M from $16.2M a year earlier, helped by more than $140M in tariff refunds tied to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
"Against that backdrop, Q2 was good, but perhaps not enough to materially exceed elevated expectations"
Jefferies analysts, Jefferies
Jefferies analysts said the selloff reflected elevated expectations more than weak results, because investors had already priced in better fundamentals before earnings.
Bras and Pink carried the turnaround
Super said the strongest areas were bras and Pink, with the bras business growing in the mid-teens percentage range and Pink gaining across bras, panties, and apparel.
"What stood out was bras and Pink," Super said in an interview, citing products including the Marshmallow bra at Pink and Envy push-up bras.
GlobalData analyst Neil Saunders said Victoria’s Secret is attracting new shoppers after a long period of customer-file erosion, while Super said customer growth spanned age and income groups.
Victoria’s Secret is investing in more marketing, products, partnerships, and campaigns, including an upcoming docuseries and a larger version of its fashion show.
The quarter still supports the turnaround story, but the stock reaction shows investors now need more than a beat to keep paying up.