Coldwater Creek Sinks on H2 Warning

Shares of women's clothing retailer Coldwater Creek plunged 16% to $9.10 in AH trading Thursday after the company said H2 sales and income will be below forecasts. The company is now expecting a loss per share of $0.11-0.13 for Q3, a steep drop from its $0.34 profit forecast in August, on revenue of $260-265 million. Analysts had forecast EPS of $0.14 on revenue of $300.2 million. For Q4, Coldwater Creek is estimating break-even earnings on sales of $360-$365 million, well shy of analysts' prior expectations of $0.20 EPS on sales of $425.3 million. For H2, the company forecasts revenue of $620-630 million and a loss per share of $0.10-0.12. "We are clearly disappointed in the current business trends, including continued lower customer traffic," said President Daniel Griesemer, who will replace retiring Dennis Pence as CEO. On August 30, Coldwater Creek's shares fell 26%, their steepest drop in six years, after Q2 net income missed expectations. The company has authorized a buyback of up to $75 million worth of shares.

Sources: MarketWatch I, II, Reuters, AP, Bloomberg
Commentary: Coldwater Creek's A Strong Bounce Candidate • Noticing Red Flags and Green Flags: Coldwater Creek, Franklin Resources
Stocks to watch: CWTR. Competitors: ANN, CHS, TLB. ETFs: XLY, PEZ, VCR
Earnings call transcript: Coldwater Creek, Inc. Q2 FY07

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