Thursday, May 26, 2011

Investopedia: Collective Brands Might Be Worth The Wait

In most respects, these are pretty good days to be in value-oriented retail. Companies like Family Dollar (NYSE:FDO), Ross Stores (Nasdaq:ROSS) and TJX (NYSE:TJX) all are seeing their stocks trade near 52-week highs, and analyst estimates have been an upward match. 


That stands in pretty sharp comparison to the shoe sector, where leading value-oriented companies like Brown Shoe (NYSE:BWS) and Collective Brands (NYSE:PSS) (owner of Payless and Stride Rite) are struggling. With Collective Brands reporting a very disappointing first quarter, it is worth asking whether there is something fundamentally different about the shoe business, or whether the absence of institutional demand for these stocks makes for a buying opportunity for value investors.


A Tough Quarter for Several Reasons
Collective Brands announced that revenue for the fiscal first quarter fell a bit more than 1%, which is not so bad until it's considered that the company missed the average estimate by about 5%. Although the company's very profitable PLG Wholesale business saw revenue rise almost 23%, overall company results were hurt by a 9% drop in domestic Payless revenue (which was fueled by a greater than 8% drop in same-store comps). International sales were also weak, as poor performance in Canada pushed the Payless international revenue down by almost 3%. 



Continue to the full piece via the link below:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Collective-Brands-Might-Be-Worth-The-Wait-PSS-BWS-NKE-KSWS-FL0526.aspx

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