In this blog, we have looked at retailers such as Walmart, American Eagle and Joseph A Bank. Let us analyze another specialty retailer, BBBY and see if it is a good investment opportunity at this time.
BBBY is a retailer specializing in bedding, bath and kitchen products. It also sells electronics, electrical equipment ( kitchen electrics ), furniture, wall and home decor. It targets the rich to upper middle class customer and competes with a slew of other retailers in this space. Its closest competitors are Target ( which targets the middle class customer ) and Linen and Things. In each of the segments it operates in, there are a slew of speciality retailers that compete for the same business.
Let us look at the latest 10-Q report and past reports to see how BBBY stacks up against some of the other retailers. In the most recent quarter, BBBY saw increase of sales (~11%) through store expansion and through the acquisition of buy buy BABY. Meanwhile, the gross profit margin declined because of rising inventory costs and selling, general and administrative cost went up. The result was a decline in operating profit margins to 9.9% from 10.7% from the same period a year ago. Does the declining profit margins show a fiercer competitive environment? Let us look at the profit margins for the past five years to figure this out.
The operating income for the past five years are as shown below with a compound annual growth rate of 7%.
639.3
792.4
879.2
889.4
895.0 (expected for this year )
The operating margin has declined sharply this year and last compared to the previous two years to the 2003 levels. This is a bit early to say if this is because of fiercer competition. The reduction in margins could also be because of the decline in the housing market. However, this should have been more pronounced in 2007 as opposed to 2006 which is not the case.
The company has decided to buy back about a billion dollar worth of shares in December 2006 and the total number of outstanding shares has declined in the most recent quarter by about 7 million compared to the same period a year ago. The company has about 20 million shares outstanding (options) and about 6 million shares in restricted stock. While many of the options are under water at the moment, the addition of close to 9% of additional shares can dilute the impact of buy back.
On a positive note, the company carries no debt and is funding its expansion through operating cash flow.
From a cash flow perspective, there are cheaper alternatives such as Walmart and Target and a slew of other retailers noted earlier in this blog such as AEO and JOSB.
While the company is healthy, the impact of housing slow down and competitive pressures is not fully clear at the moment. It is our view that there are other retailers that offer a better discount to intrinsic value than BBBY.
No comments:
Post a Comment