Yes, I seem to have a perhaps-unhealthy interest in what’s going on at Bed Bath & Beyond, but cut me some slack. I have followed this company for virtually its entire existence — 40 years as a public entity — and have studied it as closely as probably anybody from the outside. Sometimes insiders have not liked that and sometimes they’ve accused me of being off-base. Probably I have been but I stand by the body of my work in reporting on this retailer.
My post earlier this week on how the stock market over-reacted to bad first quarter numbers seems to have been justified by the stock’s healthy near-30% recovery in the days since. Hey, listen, this company has a lot of problems and a hard road ahead to fix them. It may never happen. But right now I like their chances: Management is acknowledging what needs to be done and they have plans in place to move forward. I’d like to see more attention to fixing up the stores and less to stock buybacks and dividends: if the company starts doing well again the stock will take care of itself.
But right now there’s nothing Stupid about BBB’s actions. Here’s two recent stories I filed for Forbes.com that are encouraging…at least to me:
And, by the way, that picture above is not me. I do have grey hair and wear glasses but no beard. I just thought the guy looked pensive and insightful.
WarrensReport 