One week later than expected but still a date that could mean the world to Bed Bath & Beyond: the company will announce its third quarter results a week from today, January 10.
The financial numbers will be released about 7:30 am east coast time that morning followed by an 8:15 am call with analysts to talk through the results and take questions. While that session usually lasts for about an hour it could be a very long hour for company executives.
Following two quarters of disastrous results that saw comp store sales decline in the mid-20-percent range and losses total over $300 million for each period there are no indications that this third quarter, which covers the period from September through November and includes the tail end of back-to-school and the Thanksgiving Black Friday weekend will be any better.
Both analysts who follow the company and a few selected vendors who sell it, speaking off-the-record, have indicated they expect the third quarter to follow the first two in poor performance. So far company officials have not given any indication of what to expect.
The results come as BBB continues to deal with any number of problems, including the news on the day before the New Year’s holiday weekend that it had received a letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission asking for additional information about its fiscal 2021 annual report filing. Specifically it seemed that the SEC was questioning company statements about how it handled the supply chain meltdown during that period and whether it had put into place any “risk mitigation strategies.”
In response to the SEC inquiry the company has said it was handling the situation and “thus no significant mitigation efforts have been undertaken.” While the SEC does question filings from public companies this seems to be an unusual request. It is likely BBB executives may address this issue on its call next week.
In the meantime the retailer’s stock price continues to decline, trading at around $2.35 as of mid-day Tuesday. That’s down from close to $3.85 a month ago and way off from its meme-traders high of nearly $28 a share last March. The company’s book value is less than $275 million as of Tuesday.
It was originally thought the third quarter numbers would be released this week based on previous year’s filings but the new date may be as much about the calendar as anything else. Still, whatever day those numbers come out it will be likely be a painful one for executives, shareholders and anyone else whose interests intersect with Bed Bath. Set your alarm clock.
WarrensReport 