A stylized financial graphic showing Vera Bradley handbags alongside falling stock charts, insider trade documents, and a transition-themed leadership silhouette.

Vera Bradley: The Bags Are Pretty; the Financials? Not So Much

When Insider Buys Can’t Seem to Make a Dent
Ticker: VRA 👜 
Price: $1.78 (–4.81% as of Jun 13, 2025)


📌 Trigger: First Insider Buys in a Long Time

Two directors finally decided to show some bag-bone:

  • Andrew Meslow bought 253,094 shares at $1.88 → +540% position → $474,551 💸

  • Ian Bickley bought 53,722 shares at $1.86 → +135% position → $99,923 🧾

Nice to see insiders jumping in. But will it matter?



📊 Institutional Love for the Bags (If Not the Balance Sheet)

Surprise, surprise… Vera Bradley is a hit with the big-money crowd — at least on paper.

👜 98.65% of the float is held by institutions
🏛️ 113 institutional holders are still saying, “We believe!”
(Or at least... “We own it already.”)

💼 Top Institutional Holders: Who’s Toting the Bag?

🏢 Institution 📦 Shares 📆 Date 🧮 % of Shares Out 💵 Value
🥇 Fund 1 Investments, LLC 2.78M Mar 31, 2025 9.97% $4.95M
🥈 Royce & Associates LP 1.74M Mar 31, 2025 6.22% $3.09M
🥉 BlackRock Inc. 1.69M Mar 31, 2025 6.06% $3.01M
🧮 Nomura Holdings Inc. 1.66M Mar 31, 2025 5.95% $2.96M
📐 Dimensional Fund Advisors LP 1.61M Mar 31, 2025 5.76% $2.86M
🔭 Vanguard Group Inc. 1.29M Mar 31, 2025 4.64% $2.30M

📎 Translation? The smart money still sees some thread left in Vera Bradley’s fabric — even if the patterns are a little faded.

Will they be right? Or are they just holding the bag? 🎒
Time — and perhaps a new CEO — will tell.

🔍 For full Institutional Ownership breakdown, see here.


🧳 Brand in Transition: Vera’s Identity Crisis?

Vera Bradley makes beloved women’s handbags, travel gear, and gifts… but lately, the only thing packing is the leadership team.

👋 CEO Jacqueline Ardrey is leaving
📦 Project Restoration still underway
🪑 New Executive Chairman: Ian Bickley (ex-Coach, Body Shop, Crocs board member) will help guide the ship while a new CEO is recruited

Ardrey leaves behind mixed results, and bags full of ambition.


📉 The Numbers: From Designer Bags to Deep Red

Revenue:

  • FY2025: $372.0M ↓ from $470.8M in FY2024

  • Q1 FY2026: $51.7M ↓ from $67.9M last year

Net Income:

  • FY2025 GAAP: ($62.2M) → Ouch

  • FY2025 Non-GAAP: ($18.4M)

  • FY2024 GAAP: $7.8M

  • FY2024 Non-GAAP: $17.2M

💸 Cash on Hand:

  • FY End: $30.4M → Q1: $11.3M 🔻

📉 Stock Performance:

  • Shares are down over 96% from their 2011 peak

  • Currently trading near all-time lows

  • Price/Sales = 0.14 | Price/Book = 0.34 (a steal... or a trap?)


🧵 Project Restoration: Fashion Forward or Backward?

Ardrey’s final remarks reveal a strategy rooted in:

  • Expanding heritage products 👛

  • Dropping pricey items 💲🔽

  • Returning to fan-favorite classics 💖

  • Selling off Pura Vida for focus & liquidity ✂️

  • $20M in planned cost savings 🧮

  • No debt = flexibility (or fragility?)

Even with all that stitching, the business still feels… unraveled.


🔁 Share Buybacks: A Tale of Shrinking Cash

  • $21.8M in shares repurchased in FY2025

  • Average price? $6.41 🤕

  • A new $30M buyback plan was approved in Dec 2024

  • But guess what? They’re not using it. 💤

Because… well, cash.

👉 Want the full picture? Dive into Vera Bradley’s financials here.


🧭 So Where Are We?

🚨 Red Flags:

  1. Revenues falling off a tote-sized cliff

  2. Net loss so large you could fit a duffle in it

  3. Cash nearly gone

  4. Buyback program paused 

  5. Unclear future until new CEO arrives

💡 Silver Linings:

  1. First insider buys in ages

  2. Debt-free (for now)

  3. Share price is cheap... for a reason

  4. 🧵 Still looking for #4

Interested in another investment idea?
Check our take on UnitedHealth Group.


👛 Final Take: The Bags Deserve Better

We love Vera Bradley’s brand. The bags are charming, colorful, and often iconic. But the business? More like a clearance rack right now.

💼 Until a visionary CEO zips this up and turns it around, we’re browsing—not buying. Gladly adding VRA to our watch list, though: let’s see who they hire. 🔍


🧴 Disclaimer

We’re not financial advisors, just stylists for your stock portfolio.
🎒 Invest at your own risk—and maybe hold the tote. 


🧭 Want More Like This?

👉 Browse our Insider Purchases Center
👉 Explore our Follow the Pundits Hub: When Big Bets Matter
👉 Check out our Young Guns & Turnaround Stocks 
👉 Dive into Stock Market Humor & Serious-ish Plays
👉 International Investment Opportunities and value plays await here.
👉 For even older brands on new missions, explore our Corporate Resurrection Series. Nope, doesn't exist anymore. 

 

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