VF Rushing US Imports to Beat Tariffs, Outlook Miss Sinks Shares

VF Corp. sank on Wednesday after forecasting a bigger-than-expected loss and warning investors it’s been rushing products to the US to beat the 90-day window of tariff pauses from the Trump administration.

The owner of brands such as Timberland and Vans sees an operating loss of as much as $125 million for this quarter. Analysts on average expected a loss of $73.1 million.

The shares fell 14 percent in premarket trading. That came after the stock had already declined 33 percent this year through Tuesday as the apparel maker struggled with increased costs due to tariffs and consumers pulling back from discretionary goods.

The company said it’s been accelerating production and shipments to the US during the pause on tariffs, which ends in July. That could increase costs even more for VF and the retailers that buy its products.

VF is also considering price increases to offset levies, which could further dent sales.

The company forecast revenue this quarter, excluding the impact of changes in currencies, to decline as much as 5 percent. Analysts on average expect a drop of 1.8 percent.

The sales outlook “likely reflects a pullback in consumer spending due to uncertainty amid trade tensions and inflation,” Poonam Goyal, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a research note.

VF said 85 percent of the products it imports to the US are made in Southeast Asia, South America and Central America.

Less than 2 percent of US imports come from China, which has faced additional tariffs of as much as 145 percent this year from the Trump administration.

By Matt Townsend

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