Why Designer Brands (DBI) Stock Is Trading Lower Today

What Happened?

Shares of footwear and accessories discount retailer Designer Brands (NYSE:DBI) fell 21.4% in the afternoon session after the company reported underwhelming first-quarter 2025 results, with sales and earnings falling short of Wall Street's estimates. 

The company recorded a "soft start to the year", citing "an unpredictable macro environment and deteriorating consumer sentiment." Due to the consumer spending pressure, the company withdrew its full 2025 guidance, creating more uncertainty. Overall, this was a weaker quarter.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Designer Brands? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

What The Market Is Telling Us

Designer Brands’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 54 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Designer Brands and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock gained 5.2% after the major indices rebounded, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics report revealed a resilient labor market with non-farm payrolls rising by 139,000 in May 2025, significantly above the consensus forecast of 125,000. 

Notably, a stable labor market often supports consumer spending, which is a key driver of economic growth, which means the report could help ease some of the recession fears that gripped markets. The data also supports the soft landing narrative, where the Fed can manage inflation toward its 2% target without significant damage to the economy.

Designer Brands is down 44.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $2.92 per share, it is trading 64.2% below its 52-week high of $8.16 from July 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Designer Brands’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $369.15.

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