Dive Brief:

• Shares of Ascena Retail Group tanked 24% in pre-market trading Tuesday, nearing a 7.5-year low, after the company (the owner of Ann Taylor and other women’s apparel brands) reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and same-store sales measures that missed expectations.

• Ascena reported that net sales over the three-month period ending July 30 rose to $1.81 billion from $1.17 billion a year earlier, driven by its acquisition of Ann Taylor/Loft/Lou & Grey parent Ann Inc. last August. But Q4 same-store sales, which exclude the Ann Inc. brands, fell 4%, with other brands dragging down a 1% increase at Ascena's plus-size Lane Bryant retailer.

• Q4 profit was $13.8 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $323.4 million, or $1.98 per share. Adjusted per-share earnings were 8 cents per share, missing analysts expectations for 16 cents per share, the Wall Street Journal said.

Dive Insight:

"Fiscal 2016 was a challenging year for Ascena, characterized by a highly competitive selling environment and significant store traffic headwinds," CEO/president David Jaffe said in a statement. "While we are seeing good customer demand during peak periods, off-peak demand has been inconsistent, and fourth quarter financial performance fell well below our expectations."

Jaffe went on to highlight progress in four areas of Ascena's business that he believes "lay the foundation for stronger future performance." For starters, the company’s tween brand Justice has experienced something of a turnaround, in part thanks to digital sales, and the brand's new omnichannel platform went live during fiscal Q4. In addition, the Ann integration continues to advance. "And finally, we continue to make progress with our enterprise transformation work, and we are currently moving forward to address identified opportunities," Jaffe said.

Looking ahead to the fiscal year ending in July 2017, Ascena anticipates per-share adjusted earnings of 60 cents to 65 cents and net sales of $6.9 billion to $7 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected profit of 83 cents per share and revenue of $7.17 billion.

Following a similarly poor showing in fiscal Q3, Jaffe said Accena has retained consulting firm Accenture to refocus the company in light of Amazon’s emerging prowess in the apparel business, the resilience of off-price retailers like TJX and other factors. “Where we are going through with Accenture is really trying to deconstruct all the influences on our business and the industry and see how we should change our model again to serve our customers and client the way she wants to be served,” he said on a conference call with analysts in May. Ascena did not remark on Accenture in Tuesday's earnings release.

Ascena's continued struggles prompted a downgrade from RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Tunick. "When we upgraded [Ascena] last June, it was on the premise that it could return to positive revisions as Ann was folded in and progress was made towards its $1 billion EBITDA goal," he wrote in a note to clients, according to MarketWatch. "Our call has been flat out wrong... as deleverage on negative [same-store sales] has more than offset gross margin gains and Ann-related savings."