REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Shares of Victoria's Secret & Co. tumbled Thursday, falling $12.72, or 15%, to $72.09 as of 12:19 p.m. ET, after the lingerie and apparel retailer's soft third-quarter profit outlook overshadowed a strong second-quarter earnings beat and an improved full-year revenue forecast.

The company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 95 cents, well ahead of the 75-cent consensus estimate compiled by analysts. Revenue rose 10% year over year to $1.61 billion, roughly in line with the $1.62 billion Wall Street had projected. Adjusted operating income for the quarter came in at $124 million, a significant improvement from the $55 million reported during the same period a year earlier.

Comparable sales climbed 9% during the quarter, topping the consensus projection of 8.8% growth. That figure, however, marked a notable deceleration from the 13% comparable-sales growth Victoria's Secret delivered in the first quarter, a slowdown that added to investor unease heading into Thursday's trading session.

The steep share-price decline was driven primarily by the company's disappointing forward guidance for the current quarter. Victoria's Secret projected third-quarter revenue of between $1.57 billion and $1.6 billion, modestly ahead of the Street's $1.56 billion estimate. But the company's third-quarter operating income outlook fell well short of expectations, with the midpoint of its guidance at just $15 million, compared with a Wall Street estimate of $24.4 million heading into the report.

Management attributed part of the gap to a planned increase in strategic marketing investment during the current quarter. Victoria's Secret CEO Hillary Super framed the additional........

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