Finance: Restoration Hardware crashes 26% after a disappointing forecast for the second quarter (RH)

Restoration Hardware moved to a membership model to replace promotional sales events last year.

Restoration Hardware shares plunged by as much as 26% on Friday after the company's forecast for second-quarter earnings missed analysts' expectations.

The high-end furniture retailer said on Thursday that it estimated second-quarter adjusted earnings per share in a range of $0.38 to $0.43, below the range of $0.53 to $0.75 that analysts had estimated according to Bloomberg.

First-quarter EPS of $0.05 was at the high end of its preliminary reporting.

Restoration Hardware moved to a membership model to replace promotional sales events last year.

In the earnings statement, Gary Friedman, the company's chairman and CEO, said many strategies including opening physical retail stores and cutting promotions were "in direct conflict with conventional wisdom and the strategies being pursued by many in our industry." Part of the goal, Friedman said, is creating a customer experience that can't be replicated online.

Oliver Chen, an analyst at Cowen, said that while the long-term decisions would make Restoration Hardware "un-amazon-able," or resistant to competition from the ecommerce giant, the changes may be costlier than anticipated in the short-term, according to Bloomberg.

"We believe the benefits of eliminating the operational chaos and costs that are a result of constant promotions, and positioning our brand around product versus price, will drive high quality growth for years to come," Friedman said.

Restoration Hardware shares have gained 24% over the past year.

Restoration Hardware moved to a membership model to replace promotional sales events last year. Read Full Story