Vera Bradley sells Pura Vida, plans cost-cutting measures to drive growth

Fashion, travel and accessories designer Vera Bradley’s fiscal year performance reveals a company grappling with its revitalisation efforts, as evidenced by its fourth quarter and full-year financial results amidst a difficult retail environment.

Consolidated net revenues for fiscal 2025 fell to 372 million dollars, accompanied by a net loss of 62.2 million dollars, or 2.15 dollars per diluted share. Specifically, the fourth quarter saw net revenues drop to 100 million dollars, with a net loss of 47 million dollars, or 1.69 dollars loss per diluted share; on a non-GAAP basis, the company reported a net loss of 8.3 million dollars, or 30 cents loss per diluted share.

In response, the company has announced the sale of Pura Vida to concentrate on Vera Bradley’s transformation, alongside efficiency initiatives aimed at 20 million dollars in cost savings for 2025, and the transition of co-founder Barbara Bradley Baekgaard to Emeritus status on the board.

Furthermore, Vera Bradley’s transformation strategy includes expanding its heritage product lines, scaling back higher-priced items, and reintroducing licensed products and classic designs.

Jackie Ardrey, CEO, stated, “The fourth quarter remained challenging as we continued to navigate the early stages of Project Restoration. While we experienced sequential improvement, particularly in our Vera Bradley direct channel which performed overall at expectations, we acknowledge that our transformation is taking longer than initially anticipated.”

She further noted, “The migration of business from stores, particularly in our outlet locations, to ecommerce represented an unexpected shift, creating near-term profitability headwinds that we are actively addressing with targeted strategies.”

With the Pura Vida sale, the company anticipates fiscal year 2026 net revenues of approximately 280 million dollars, an operating loss of approximately 6 million dollars, and consolidated diluted EPS of approximately 15 cents.