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Victoria’s Secret rises as another activist wants a board overhaul

Barington Capital is pushing for a board shake-up and wants to revamp its key bra division.

6/16/25 10:21AM

Victoria’s Secret shares climbed nearly 4% Monday after reports that activist investor Barington Capital Group is building a stake in the struggling lingerie brand.

The firm now owns about 1% of the company, according to The Wall Street Journal, and plans to grow that stake. In a letter to Chairwoman Donna James, Barington called for a board overhaul and urged the company to double down on its core bra business to revive lagging sales and share performance.

Barington is now the second activist known to be in the mix. Australian billionaire Brett Blundy, whose BBRC firm owns nearly 13% of the stock, has also called for a board refresh, blaming “disastrous” decisions and ongoing mismanagement for the brand’s decline.

In May, Victoria’s Secret adopted a poison pill to fend off Blundy’s pressure campaign.

Barington is already familiar with the company. Back in 2019, it bought a stake in what was then Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, L Brands, and urged the company to split off from Bath & Body Works.

The moves come on the heels of a mixed Q1 earnings report: revenue topped expectations, but the company slashed its full-year profit forecast, citing $50 million in tariff-related costs. Meanwhile, the core retail business (especially bras) remains soft.

Victoria’s Secret shares are still down 53% year to date.

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Premium seats help push airlines higher following third-quarter results

Shares of American Airlines are climbing toward the carrier’s best trading day since August 12, when ultra-budget rival Spirit issued its initial warning about its ability to survive. American’s shares are up more than 7% on Friday afternoon.

Investors’ optimism comes a day after American posted a better-than-expected full-year earnings forecast. In a call with investors, American said that it’s ramping up its premium cabin offerings.

“Our ability to grow capacity in premium markets will be further supported as we take delivery of new aircraft and reconfigure our existing fleet. These efforts will allow us to grow our premium seats at nearly two times the rate of main cabin seats,” CEO Robert Isom said. American CFO Devin May said that nose-to-tail retrofits of certain wide-body jets will bump the number of premium seats available on those planes by 25%.

Extra legroom has been a boon for major carriers, particularly this quarter. Delta Air Lines said its premium product revenue grew 9% in Q3, compared to a 4% drop in economy seat revenue. Similarly, United Airlines said its premium revenue grew 6%, outpacing economy. Shares of both airlines were up more than 3% on Friday.

Carriers with less exposure to first- and business-class tickets like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue didn’t see the same amount of momentum on the day.