Victoria's Secret Stock Rises on Report Activist Investor Seeks Board Overhaul

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Shares of Victoria’s Secret are rising in premarket trading Monday following a report that activist investor Barington Capital Group has built a stake in the struggling lingerie company.
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported that Barington plans to keep boosting its stake, currently at more than 1%.
The retailer’s shares, which entered Monday down 56% this year, are up nearly 3% in premarket trading.

Shares of Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) are rising in premarket trading Monday following a report that activist investor Barington Capital Group has built a stake in the struggling lingerie company.

Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that Barington plans to keep boosting its stake, currently at more than 1%. The firm plans to push Victoria’s Secret “to consider replacing a majority, if not all of, the board with new independent directors” and get the intimate apparel company to restore its focus on its core bra business to shore up its shares, the report said.

The retailer’s shares are gaining nearly 3% in premarket trading but entered Monday having lost 56% of their value this year. Last week, the company lowered its full-year outlook when it released its first-quarter results, which had been delayed after a cyberattack disrupted the company’s operations in late May.

Barington didn’t immediately respond to an Investopedia request for comment.