Can Five Below Stock Turn a 50% Drop in 2024 Into a 50% Gain in 2025?

If you had invested $10,000 in Five Below (NASDAQ: FIVE) at its initial public offering (IPO) in 2012, you'd have nearly $40,000 now. That's not a bad long-term return. However, 2024 hasn't been a good year for shareholders. As of this writing, Five Below stock is down 51% year to date.Several factors contributed to Five Below's uncharacteristically bad stock performance this year. First, sales haven't been as strong as investors would like them to be. The company measures same-store sales for all locations that have been opened for at least 15 months. Through the first three quarters of 2024, same-store sales are down nearly 3% from the same period of 2023, which isn't ideal.Second, lower profitability has hit Five Below stock, and it's related to stagnant sales. The company's operating expenses have increased faster than sales growth over the past several years. For example, total net sales this year are up 12% to $2.5 billion. But operating cash flow has dropped from $92 million at this time last year to just $67 million this year, a decline of 27%.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool