Quick Take: What's Furniture Brands' Game?
By Rich Smith
September 21, 2007
Is there method to Furniture Brands' (NYSE: FBN) madness?
Earlier this week, the company behind such famed furniture brands (see where the name comes from?) as Thomasville and Broyhill warned that its sales will decline 12% year over year in Q3, and that $0.22 in restructuring and other costs would net it a loss of somewhere between $0.19 and $0.23. But if you recall, the company issued similarly dire warnings just before releasing its Q2 numbers last month -- numbers that turned out to be a heck of a lot better than we were led to believe.
Also meanwhile, Furniture Brands rival, Hooker Furniture (Nasdaq: HOFT), just reported better-than-expected numbers. Does this suggest that FBN may be lowballing the analysts in hopes of exceeding expectations next month? Don't miss our "Foolish Forecast," which will run a few days before the release, where we'll digest all the most recent news and make a best guess.
For similarly mixed next-door news in the office furniture space, read about Herman Miller's (Nasdaq: MLHR) soft guidance for the current quarter, and rival Steelcase's (NYSE: SCS) report.
What do the unfolding financial crisis and ongoing market volatility mean for your money? The Fool's here with answers. Get the best of our daily commentary and analysis in your inbox simply by entering your email address in the box below.