With shoppers seemingly on a general strike, there is no shortage of
turnaround/recovery ideas in the apparel sector. It's different
situation with bebe stores (BEBE),
though, as this company isn't suffering from the fickle whims of teen
fashion or the sudden drop in mall traffic. Rather, bebe has seen its
reported sales decline year over year since 2008 and hasn't sniffed a
double-digit operating margin since that same year.
The company
has a turnaround strategy in place, as well as a CEO who is less than a
year into the job. While management has done a good job of telegraphing
what are likely to be ugly-looking numbers until legacy merchandise is
off the shelves and out of the stores, I'm not sure the probable
long-term gains are worth the pains. The shares do look a little
undervalued, but bebe will have to go from its current stressed state to
new all-time performance records to justify a target price that would
make it a superior investing option to names like American Eagle (AEO) or Aeropostale (ARO) in the broader retail space.
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Relative To The Risks, The Turnaround Rewards At Bebe Don't Impress
Showing posts with label Ann Taylor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ann Taylor. Show all posts
Monday, September 16, 2013
Friday, May 18, 2012
Investopedia: Chico's Growing Again, But Sustainability Always A Concern
Retailers aren't commonly considered cyclical stocks, but I think
they probably should be. Not only are clothing retailers vulnerable to
the economic cycle, but also the vagaries of merchandising and customer response to their product line up. Companies as varied as American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF), Bebe (Nasdaq:BEBE) and Chico's (NYSE:CHS) have all shown this boom-bust pattern in their financial reports and it appears to be a "feature" of the industry.
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http://stocks.investopedia.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Investopedia: Heavily Shorted Stocks Near Their Highs
Virtually every stock of any real size is going to have a certain amount of short interest. When a stock's short interest reaches double-digits, though, investors should pay a little attention. By and large, retail investors do not short stocks and neither do most mutual funds. Moreover, the rules and hassles of short selling combined with the theoretically unlimited loss potential often mean that short positions are not entered into lightly.
While some short positions are simply a byproduct of a fund manager's belief that a stock is simply overvalued, often it is a bet on the notion that there is something more fundamentally wrong with the basic business. Accordingly, it is interesting to see that there are a number of stocks with high short interests trading near their 52-week highs. Is this simply a product of a bull market that has gone on too long, or is there something worse lurking beneath the surface? (For more, see Stocks With Increasing Short Interest.)
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http://stocks.investopedia.
While some short positions are simply a byproduct of a fund manager's belief that a stock is simply overvalued, often it is a bet on the notion that there is something more fundamentally wrong with the basic business. Accordingly, it is interesting to see that there are a number of stocks with high short interests trading near their 52-week highs. Is this simply a product of a bull market that has gone on too long, or is there something worse lurking beneath the surface? (For more, see Stocks With Increasing Short Interest.)
Please click here to continue:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Investopedia: Can Chico's Be Chic Again?
Women's retailer Chico's (NYSE:CHS) was a great growth stock for almost a decade, profiting off its relatively fashionable offerings for working women and ability to differentiate itself from the likes of Gap (NYSE:GPS), Limited Brands (NYSE:LTD) as well as mall anchors like JCPenny (NYSE:JCP) and Dillards (NYSE:DDS). But then Chico's experienced what almost all retailers experience - merchandising missteps, overexpansion, questionable acquisitions and a customer base that just wants to shop somewhere else for a change.
The good news for retail investors is that there are certainly second acts in retailing (as well as third, and fourth). The question, though, is whether Chico's has whipped itself into shape in time to take advantage of an improving market. (For related reading see 5 Retail Stocks For 2011.)
An Iffy End to the Year
Chico's did not report especially exciting numbers for the fourth quarter, but the market was expecting worse so it all netted out to a "positive quarter", especially as the company gave encouraging sales growth guidance for fiscal 2011.
Please follow this link for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.
The good news for retail investors is that there are certainly second acts in retailing (as well as third, and fourth). The question, though, is whether Chico's has whipped itself into shape in time to take advantage of an improving market. (For related reading see 5 Retail Stocks For 2011.)
An Iffy End to the Year
Chico's did not report especially exciting numbers for the fourth quarter, but the market was expecting worse so it all netted out to a "positive quarter", especially as the company gave encouraging sales growth guidance for fiscal 2011.
Please follow this link for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.
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