Cost Plus stock dips despite upgrade
Cost Plus Inc.’s (Nasdaq: CPWM) stock was down on heavier-than-normal volume this morning despite being upgraded to “Hold” from “Sell” by AG Edwards.
The Oakland, Calif.-based specialty retailer announced late Thursday fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2006 financial earnings results that missed analysts’ estimates.
For the fourteen-week fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, Cost Plus reported net income of $7.5 million, or $0.34 per share, on revenue of $396.7 million.
Twelve analysts polled by Thomson First Call had estimated earnings per share of $0.84 on revenue of $395.9 million for the fourth quarter.
For fiscal 2006, Cost Plus reported a net loss of $22.5 million, or $1.02 per share, on revenue of $1.04 billion.
Analysts were expecting a net loss of $0.42 on revenue of $1.04 billion for 2006.
Looking ahead, Cost Plus projected a net loss in the range of $13 million to $17 million, or $0.58 to $0.77 per diluted share, on revenue of $1.04 billion to $1.06 billion for fiscal 2007.
For 2007, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.09 on revenue of $1.2 billion.
By 11:19 AM ET, Cost Plus shares had dropped by $0.27, or 2.9%, to $9.19 after having traded as low as $8.94 earlier in the day. The stock has traded between $8.52 (on April 13) and $17.22 (on May 8) in the past year.
More than 927,000 shares had changed hands, compared with an average three-month daily volume of 370,856 shares.
Cost Plus President and CEO Barry Feld said that the full impact of operational and strategic initiatives would not be evident until fiscal 2008. For now, he added that the company plans to focus on driving higher transaction volume “while maintaining careful control of costs.”
Cost Plus opened four new stores during the fourth quarter and ended the year with 287 stores in 34 states, compared with 267 stores in 34 states at the end of fiscal 2005.
