Investopedia: High Cotton Or Not, Phillips-Van Heusen Worth A Look

There are not too many truly cheap stocks out there, nor a surplus of stories that are completely spot-free. In times like these, investors have to move on to stories where certain concerns are inflated or where undervaluation lies beyond the quick valuation ratios and in the cash flow capabilities of the company. Clothing wholesaler and retailer Phillips-Van Heusen (NYSE:PVH) is one such candidate - a quality company that is not necessarily cheap on first blush, but looks like a quality undervalued opportunity.
 
A Solid End to the Year
PVH's earnings are not necessarily easy to digest - the company made a major acquisition (Tommy Hilfiger) and that makes the year-on-year comparisons a little more difficult. To the company's credit, though, they give investors an unusually-extensive amount of financial detail and it looks like the quarter was solid with or without the acquisition.

As reported, revenue jumped almost 128% to just under $1.4 billion, and beat the average analyst guess. The inclusion of over $700 million in Tommy Hilfiger revenue clearly made a major difference, though the core organic growth rate looks like it came in at more than 12%. In particular, the Calvin Klein business rose over 18%, with licensing revenue (from the likes of Warnaco (Nasdaq:WRNC) and G-III Apparel (Nasdaq:GIII)) up 11%.

Profitability was more of a mixed story. Gross margin did improve almost three points, but that was still less than most analysts expected. Likewise, adjusted operating margin of over 9% was not bad but not great relative to expectations. All in all, then, PVH's outperformance this quarter was fueled by higher sales and lower taxes, offset by some margin challenges.


To read the full piece, please go to:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/High-Cotton-Or-Not-Phillips-Van-Heusen-Worth-A-Look-PVH-WRNC-GIII-HBI-RL-VFC-PERY0331.aspx