2-Star Stocks Poised to Plunge: Ann Taylor?

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 135,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, women's-apparel retailer AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE: ANN) has received a distressing two-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Ann Taylor's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Ann Taylor facts

Headquarters (Founded)	New York (1986)
Market Cap	$813.3 Million
Industry	Apparel Retail
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$1.91 Billion
Management	CEO Katherine Krill (Since 2005) CFO Michael Nicholson (Since 2007)
Trailing-12-Month Return on Equity	(67.8%)
Year-to-Date Return	140%
Competitors	Gap (NYSE: GPS) Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS)
CAPS Members Bearish on ANN Also Bearish on	Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX)
CAPS Members Bullish on ANN Also Bullish on	Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 82 of the 243 members who have rated Ann Taylor -- 34% -- believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include All-Stars 00100 and mrindependent, both of whom are ranked in the top 4% of our community.

One week ago, CAPS member 00100 brought Ann Taylor's huge hemorrhage to our community's attention:

Negative cash flow. … Bleeding cash. ... Likely to continue to experience significant restructuring expenses going forward.

In a pitch from two days ago, mrindependent echoes that bearishness:

The first thing I notice about Ann Taylor is that 2X book seems expensive considering it is definitely not a growth company. [Its] best strategy is to shrink. … Excluding items, analysts expect a 32 cent loss for the year ending 01/10 and a 21 cent profit for the year ending 01/11. After subtracting the $3.00 cash from the share price, you get an adjusted share price of $10. This is 50 TIMES expected earning for 2010.

What do you think about Ann Taylor, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 135,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!