Investors fell back in love with Victoria's Secret, sending shares up more than 40% to record highs on Tuesday following quarterly results that blew away Wall Street expectations — and even beating the company's previous guidance. And it's all thanks to the company getting back to what it does best.
The lingerie retailer (which also owns young-adult brand PINK) reported a 15% first-quarter sales spike and raised its performance outlook going forward for the next full year. Investors bought on the news, sending shares temporarily up over $80. Monday, they closed at about $54. Trading seems to have settled in at the high 70s.
Not bad for a company that not so long ago tried to bleed itself out on the altar of diversity.
As of Monday, shares had nearly tripled in value since this time last year. Man, I wish I'd bought them a couple of years ago, when shares hit $15.45. The company was then mired in a years-long, money-losing pursuit of "diversity" instead of sales.
It was a dark time in our country's retail history, but the story must be told before others repeat it.
Victoria's Secret was known for a sexy-leaning lineup of everything from lingerie to more practical clothes women still might not want to wear to the office, modeled by some of the world's most improbably attractive supermodels. The company's annual "Angels" fashion show was a silly, over-the-top treat — that couldn't be allowed to survive in the age of #MeToo and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
2018 saw the last Angels show, after chief marketing officer Ed Razek did the unthinkable and said out loud that the public is “not interested” in plus-size models and also said the company would never cast a trans Angel “because the show was a fantasy."
Razek was forced out, and various plus-size models were wedged into the company's DEI-approved new image.
No later than 2019, Time reported that corporate DEI efforts had "exploded" in size like Vicky's diverse new models, and that a "survey of 234 companies in the S&P 500 found that 63% of the diversity professionals had been appointed or promoted to their roles during the past three years."
That's the same year Vicky's sales peaked before beginning a long slump that only now is ending.
Let me say this again: A company whose entire brand was helping make women feel attractive and good about themselves let itself get bullied into promoting diversity instead of sexy. "Rivals like American Eagle Outfitters," the New York Post reminded readers last month, "swooped in as Victoria’s Secret lost its long-dominant share of the bra and underwear market."
But in the private sector, stupid either goes bankrupt or gets turned around. Enter stage right, Victoria's Secret turnaround artist, CEO Hillary Super, hired in August 2024. Super quickly launched the company's "Very Sexy" line of old-school lingerie items like garter belts, thigh-high stockings, and sheer tops.
Women, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, went to Vicky's to pick up some bras, but are now "sticking around to buy everything else," seeing that fantasy is on store shelves once more. Come for the practical sports bra, stay a bit longer to treat yourself to something a bit more risqué, a lot more fun.
Sexy sells, and Super brought the sexy back.
Not coincidentally, Super was hired for the CEO gig around the same time that corporate America began realizing that the whole DEI madness was a brand-destroying fad. Looking back at 2024, Reuters reported — with obvious lament — that "big U.S. household names, from Meta to Walmart had already moved to scrap or curtail their DEI programs."
Not only are investors snapping up shares, but they're buying them under a new stock ticker. Last month, Super announced that today the ticker would ditch the stodgy old VSCO for the much more exciting VSXY.
"VSXY is recognizable and aligns with our strategy and the progress we’ve made. It reflects our conviction and confidence in this work," Super said. "We’re owning who we are, and we’re proud of it."
And whether you're selling step ladders or sex appeal, that's exactly what a brand should do.
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