Shares of LL Flooring Inc. LL, -6.62% slid 7% Wednesday, after the company posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings as lower spending by inflation-conscious customers weighed. Richmond, Va.-based LL Flooring, formerly called Lumber Liquidators, swung to a net loss of $3.77 million, or 13 cents a share, for the quarter, after income of $8.78 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The company’s adjusted loss came to 14 cents a share, while FactSet analysts were expecting EPS of 26 cents. Sales fell 4.8% to $268.8 million, below the $289 million FactSet consensus. Same-store sales fell 7.3%, while the FactSet consensus was for them to be flat. Chief Executive Charles Tyson said the numbers lagged the company’s expectations. “Notwithstanding the challenging consumer spending environment, we believe there are opportunities to improve our performance and we are focused on increasing brand awareness and consumer traffic,” he said in a statement. Still, the company is expecting spending headwinds to persist through year-end, while transportation and material costs will remain a challenge. The stock has fallen 53% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.46% has fallen 19.5%.
