KinderCare Shares Sink 32% After Cutting Full-Year Outlook

The company reported late Thursday that it swung to an $85 million loss, or 71 cents a share, compared with a $4.55 million profit, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were a loss of 3 cents a share, missing the zero-cent result analysts polled by FactSet had expected.

Revenue fell 1.7% to $665.3 million. Revenue at early-childhood education centers declined 3.1%, as enrollment dropped 5.9% and came in below the company’s expectations, KinderCare said.

Chief Executive Tom Wyatt said new enrollments since the end of the back-to-school period have outpaced those in the same period last year. Overall enrollment, however, remains below last year’s level.

KinderCare now expects full-year revenue of $2.64 billion to $2.66 billion and adjusted earnings per share of 2 cents to 4 cents. Its previous forecast was revenue of $2.66 billion to $2.70 billion and adjusted earnings per share of 5 cents to 15 cents.