RH (RH) reported mixed third-quarter results after Thursday's close, and the reaction from Wall Street analysts was swift and not particularly encouraging.

The luxury home furnishings retailer posted earnings of $1.71 per share, falling short of the $2.16 analyst consensus by about 21%. On the bright side, quarterly revenue came in at $883.81 million, barely edging out the Street estimate of $883.69 million. So there's that.

CEO Gary Friedman tried to frame the results in a more positive light in his shareholder letter. "We continued to generate industry-leading growth with revenue increasing 9% in the third quarter, and up 18% on a two-year basis, demonstrating the disruptive nature of our brand despite the worst housing market in almost 50 years and the polarizing impact of tariffs," he wrote.

The housing market comment is doing some heavy lifting there, but it's hard to argue that luxury furniture isn't closely tied to home sales. When people aren't buying houses, they're generally not splurging on $10,000 sofas either.

The forward guidance didn't help matters much. RH expects fourth-quarter revenue between $869.27 million and $877.4 million, which sits well below the $896.97 million analysts were expecting. That's the kind of miss that gets attention.

Despite all this, RH shares managed to climb 2.4% to $156.97 in pre-market trading. Sometimes the market works in mysterious ways.

Analysts React to the Results

Following the earnings release, analysts moved quickly to adjust their expectations. B of A Securities analyst Curtis Nagle maintained an Underperform rating on the stock but lowered his price target from $200 to $170. Meanwhile, Telsey Advisory Group analyst Cristina Fernandez kept her Market Perform rating while cutting her price target from $220 to $185.

Those are meaningful reductions, suggesting analysts see a tougher road ahead for the retailer as it navigates what management describes as one of the most challenging housing markets in half a century.