Boston, MA 02/20/2014 (wallstreetpr) – CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) is seen sinking deep in the red, touching historic stock price lows in the process and also worrying investors as well. That is happening, right, so what?
The company is declining fast and worryingly just when it updated its earnings forecast for the current fiscal year. The downgrade note from analysts at Oppenheimer hasn’t made things better either. So then, the stock has hit a low by 37 percent already in the day and more bad news could be on the way before the final bell.
Tepid forecast that started the trouble
CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) announced that it expects to register earnings per share in the range of $3.40 to $3.70 this year. Yet previously, the company had told investors and analysts alike that it expected earnings per share to touch $4. That step backward is now hurting the stock as investors head for the exit door.
However, CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) is not doing what it has just done without reason. The company stated that it is troubled by the slow sales of electronics. Another hindrance to performance is the high rate of the unpaid loans, otherwise called high delinquency rates.
And that is all; the company is also blaming online stores for its troubled sales figures. It is said that online retailers are offering competitive prices, thus hurting profit margins and reducing foot traffic to stores in the process and the result of it all is poor revenue and profit figures.
Troubled retailers
But CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) is not alone in this challenge. Other retailers like Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) are feeling the heat as well and the company has announced plans to bring down the axe on about 950 jobs in its ranks. Best Buy last month posted a surprise decline in holiday sales that has got management thinking how to get things moving upward in terms of growth and profits.
Forget about CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) and Best Buy and you see another troubled electronics retailer in Wal-Mart. The company has just announced performance results for the latest quarter and went ahead to forecast narrow earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Takeaway
As mentioned earlier, CONN’S, Inc. (NASDAQ:CONN) has already registered a decade-long single day percentage decline. Yet in the past year the stock gained roughly 75 percent. Analysts at Oppenheimer have added to the pain of the stock with a “market-perform”, equivalent of “hold” rating, from the previous “outperform” listing on the stock.
