Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our thesis.
What: Shares of Regis Corp. (RGS 0.92%) were getting dumped today, falling as much as 14% and finishing down 10% after posting an underwhelming earnings report this morning.
So what: The hair-salon chain missed badly on both top and bottom lines, reporting a loss of $0.04 a share, below estimates of a $0.02-per-share profit, while revenues dropped 7.5% to $468.4 million, missing the consensus at $480.3 million. The drop in sales came almost entirely from negative organic growth as same-store sales fell 6.2%. CEO Dan Hanrahan seemed to say that the loss of sales came from a poor or slow execution of the company's restructuring plan, but he was confident that the company eventually "will realize increased growth and profitability throughout our entire organization."
Now what: With same-store sales falling more than 6%, I'm almost surprised that shares didn't fall further than they did. The parent of Supercuts and other chains explained that the company has been changing its point-of-sale system, its retail plan, and has reorganized its field structure, which includes moving from a branded to a geographic management structure. But with this quarter's report, the early verdict seems to be a fail, and the salon business is very competitive anyway. Analysts are expecting minimal growth for this borderline profitable company. Based on all that, it's hard to see a reason to invest here.
