What: Shares of office-products company Steelcase (SCS -2.58%) were down 21% at 11 a.m. EST Tuesday after its quarterly results and outlook missed Wall Street expectations.
So what: Steelcase shares have been flattish during the past several months on growth concerns, and yesterday's Q3 results -- adjusted EPS of $0.30 on a revenue decline of 1.6% -- coupled with downbeat guidance, only reinforce those worries. While the company saw solid revenue growth in the Americas and other regions, an organic decline of 8% in its Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions weighed heavily on the bottom line, suggesting that Steelcase is much more exposed to global headwinds than investors think.
Now what: Management now expects current-quarter EPS of $0.20-$0.24 on revenue of $720 million-$745 million, well below the analyst consensus of $0.26 and $772 million, respectively. According to President and CEO Jim Keane:
[O]rder growth in the U.S. furniture industry has slowed, as has overall U.S. business capital spending. Our orders and pipeline at the end of the quarter show fewer large projects than last year. We are also seeing a shift in demand to certain product categories where we will be launching new products and taking other actions to improve our competitiveness starting in the fourth quarter and throughout the next fiscal year.
With the stock now off about 30% from its 52-week highs, and trading at a single-digit forward P/E, now might be an opportune time for enterprising value hounds to bet on that improvement.
