Jos. A. Bank: Suspiciously Short Earnings Call

For the second consecutive quarter, Jos. A. Bank (JOSB) kept its first quarter earnings call Monday very short and allowed no questions from fans or foes alike.

Adding to the intrigue: CEO Robert Wildrick was nowhere to be found. While his name was mentioned as being in attendance, he didn't speak. When I called his office later, a secretary said he was out of town; a call to CFO David Ullman wasn't returned.

The most notable part of the call, some might say, was the company's statement that "the gross margin rate is now normalized." And that while the rate may increase based on "the mix of business," President Neal Black said in his prepared text on the calls that investors shouldn't expect to see "the level of increase seen in prior years." Put another way: The gross margin is no longer the honey pot for earnings that it has been for years.

Comments

[Malkiel]

Nobody gets to see the Great Wizard of JOS.--not nobody, not no how.

I've been noticing at ground level that Jos. Bank stores are springing up in markets where the old single-owner retail men's shops folded, filling a needed market niche. So far their sale pricing must be taking some business from the Brooks Brothers of the world, but how their bottom line fares because of that is part of the mystery...