Harry Potter publisher Scholastic falls on disappointing fiscal 3Q results

Scholastic Corp (NASDAQ:SCHL) dropped in Thursday’s extended trading after missing Wall Street expectations on earnings and revenue.

For the quarter ended February 28, the publisher of the Harry Potter series posted an adjusted loss of $0.32 diluted per share on revenue of $360.1 million, which was up 4% from a year earlier. Analysts on average had projected a loss of $0.27 per share on revenue of $371.1 million.

Investors shelved the stock in after-hours trading, shrinking the price 5% to $38.44.

READ: Scholastic sees 2Q revenue boost, crediting page-turners like Harry Potter and The Wonky Donkey

“Consolidated revenue in the seasonally lower third quarter was up 4% over the prior year, keeping us on course to achieve our sales targets for fiscal 2019,” Chairman and CEO Richard Robinson said in a statement.

Looking ahead, Scholastic expects to close the fiscal year with EPS between $1.60 and $1.70 on revenue between $1.65 billion and $1.7 billion. Earnings are likely to be on the low end of its previous guidance, the company said, blaming rising costs.

Contact Andrew Kessel at [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel

Story by ProactiveInvestors