by The Editors on October 10, 2008
With the markets crashing, what better time for companies to invest in themselves. This appears to be the rationale of the Nike board of directors as they approved a four year plan to buy back $5 billion in Nike common stock.
We are pleased to extend Nike’s track record of returning value to shareholders through sustained share repurchases,” said Mark Parker, NIKE, Inc. President and CEO. “Over the past 10 years, NIKE, Inc. has returned $5.5 billion to shareholders through the repurchase of more than 157 million shares. This new share repurchase program demonstrates our continued confidence in Nike’s long-term growth prospects and financial strength.
[Link: Business Wire]
by The Editors on October 10, 2008
Falling stocks really aren’t news these days, but we still have fun looking at the charts like this one from Quiksilver’s last year. With it’s $2.79 price today Quik has hit its lowest stock price since 1998.
We hate to admit it, but even to us it’s beginning to look like a bargain.
[Link: Yahoo! Finance]
by The Editors on October 9, 2008
This afternoon at around 12:50 PM Zumiez stock broke through it’s previous 52-week low ($11.85 in July 08) to $11.55 and it appears the bottom has not been reached thanks to reports yesterday of a less than stellar September.
Interestingly, Zumiez’s number two competitor in the malls of America, The Buckle, was up $1.19 today to $49.14.
by The Editors on October 8, 2008
America’s core sports mall store Zumiez reported their same store sales were down 9 percent in September according to a story on Forbes.com.
The Everett-based retailer said its same-store sales results were dragged down by poor performance California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada – areas that are among the hardest hit by the nation’s housing market meltdown.
The good news is that net sales were up over last year to $33.6 million. Guess that’s what happens when you keep adding more stores.
[Link: Forbes.com]
by The Editors on October 8, 2008
Wachovia is no longer hyped on Pacific Sunwear. So they’ve knocked the mall retailer down a notch from Outperform to Market Perform
Until now, our thesis had been predicated on improvements in merchandising, coupled with new operating efficiencies. However, we believe the assortment is losing focus, evidenced by too much color overall and an overinvestment in the weak-trending fleece category.
It’s kind of laughable that Wachovia would have any opinions about the market when they can’t even run their own business. But they’re still giving the stock a valuation range of $5-6. PSUN is now trading at $4.98.
[Link: StreetInsider.com]
by The Editors on October 7, 2008
Rumors that Amer Sports‘ largest share holder was selling out of the company were not confirmed today. The parent company of Salomon, Bonfire, and Atomic hasn’t heard anything about the Icelandic investment firm of Novator selling any shares.
“I have not heard anything from Novator that could indicate they would sell their stake,” an Amer spokesman said.
We haven’t heard anything about it either.
[Link: Reuters]
by The Editors on October 1, 2008
In a move far more fitting for the current business climate Quiksilver has teamed up with Sydney-based fashion designer Sam Elsom to create a limited run of “luxurious, hand-tailored garments for men,” including a suit. When the market’s in shambles go upscale.
The elsom suit is expected to retail for about $1200. The elsom collection will be distributed for sale internationally via Quiksilver shops and will be available as of March 2009. . . Quiksilver’s Men’s designer Ryan Scanlon said he was excited about the collaboration.. . . “Sam (Elsom) is renowned for the understated beauty and simplicity he brings to fashion and his dedication to sourcing the highest quality sustainable textiles is unwavering,” he said.
Wonder what the margins are on this effort?
[Link: News.com.au]
by The Editors on September 29, 2008
According to a story in the Wall Street Journal (which we can’t read because we’re not subscribers) Foot Locker Inc. has reportedly said that is paying $102 million in cash to buy skateboard mail order company CCS from Delia’s Inc.
The reason: because Foot Locker wants “to capture more younger customers. . . The skateboarding-inspired apparel market has been a bright spot as consumer spending dwindles in segments like basketball shoes.”
[Link: The Wall Street Journal]
by The Editors on September 19, 2008
Globe International Limited released their 2008 annual report today. And while the document contains loads of interesting information (like the fact that the company suffered a $24.6 million net loss in fiscal 2007/2008) we dove straight to the “Key Management Personnel And Top 5 Remunerated Executives” section (page 34), because we love knowing how well our friends are doing.
Here is the breakdown of salaries plus cash bonuses:
Matthew Hill $948,222
Chief Executive Officer
Matthew Wong $554,490
President – Europe
Gary Valentine $433,271
President – North America
Marc McKee $421,263
Graphic Designer
Bod Boyle $381,507
President – Dwindle
John Sherwood $344,879
Vice President – North American Sales
Steve Douglas $233,129
President – Australia
Jessica Hogan $213,129
Chief Financial Officer
Gerhard Correa $154,700
Company Secretary
And this “salary transparency” is just one of the reasons that it sucks to work for a publicly traded company. Though, it obviously doesn’t suck that much for many on this list.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]
by The Editors on September 19, 2008
Don’t think he could have timed this any better but apparently Richard Hayne, the chairman and president of Urban Outfitters sold 1.4 million shares in the company earlier this week and brought in a cool $50 million. He should be able to roll on that for awhile, huh?
[Link: Barrons]
