Victoria's Secret Hits Four-Year High with Surprising Turnaround

Victoria’s Secret delivered a robust holiday quarter and an optimistic outlook for the year ahead, signaling that CEO Hillary Super’s multi-year overhaul is finally taking hold. The lingerie retailer’s sales and profit both surpassed analyst forecasts, and its guidance for the current quarter and full year came in well above Wall Street’s estimates.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $2.77 per share on revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter ending in January. Sales grew 8% from the same period last year. Perhaps most telling, comparable sales have now increased for three consecutive quarters—the longest such streak in four years. The most recent quarter saw an 8% jump in that key metric, outpacing expectations.

Super credited the performance to a positive customer response to new products and marketing, which has attracted new shoppers and increased spending. The strategy has centered on revitalizing the core bra business, boosting its beauty division, and successfully drawing customers back to its Pink line, a brand popular in the 2000s.

This marks a significant shift for a company that, since its 2021 separation from L Brands, has struggled to connect with modern shoppers. Past reliance on narrowly defined ‘sexy’ imagery and styles opened the door for competitors. An acquisition of the digital brand Adore Me in 2022 aimed to address this, but the integration has been costly; the company recorded nearly $120 million in impairment charges related to Adore Me last quarter and is now reviewing another brand acquired in that deal.

Despite the strong financial report, investor reaction was muted, with shares falling more than 6% in early trading Thursday. The market’s hesitation underscores the challenge ahead: proving this recovery is durable, not just a fleeting trend.