Sharper Image's Dull Holidays

You'd think Sharper Image (Nasdaq: SHRP) would be a shoo-in for holiday shoppers -- and holiday sales -- what with its assortment of gee-whiz gadgets. Apparently -- surprise -- this wasn't quite the case this time around, and investors bloodied the stock in today's trading.

Actually, it's not really a surprise. After all, there have been signs of such a slowdown in recent months, as was covered here and here. At first thought, none of this seems to jell with an early December trip I took to a local upper-crusty mall, right at the cusp of the holiday shopping season, where the parking lot was certainly full while the halls of the mall were fairly empty. OK, so a lot of the shoppers were in the Cheesecake Factory (Nasdaq: CAKE) (what else is new?), but where were the rest?

I didn't see them in Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) offshoot Iridesse, nor did I see too very many in Chico's (NYSE: CHS), although there were a fair number of shoppers in Urban Outfitters' (Nasdaq: URBN) Anthropologie. So, where the heck were the rest of the crowds who had been brawling over scarce spaces in the parking lot? Darn if a whole herd of them wasn't wandering in and out of Sharper Image.

Sharper Image said in a press release that because of the lackluster holiday sales, it is slashing fourth-quarter and fiscal-year guidance. Fourth-quarter earnings are now expected to be in the $0.94-to-$0.99-per-share range, with full-year earnings expected to be $0.90 to $0.95 per share. Compare these levels to last year's, when Sharper Image reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.40 per share and full-year earnings of $1.65 per share.

While my anecdotal evidence concerning my trip to said upper-crusty mall was a bit of a self-indulgent digression and obviously doesn't reflect the whole story of Sharper Image's dull holiday season, it might point to a few of the problems the company admitted to in its press announcement.

It said that "its in-stock position in certain key holiday items was less than optimal," and store traffic was light, "particularly in the 10 days leading up to Christmas day." Could it be shoppers got a taste of its fare early in the season, and when they didn't find what they wanted (or hot items were out of stock) they moved on to other pastures? Who knows, maybe some defected to rival Brookstone (Nasdaq: BKST).

Of course, investors might want to cut Sharper Image at least a tiny bit of slack for the tough comparisons to last year's stunning fourth quarter and year. Along those lines, it's not too hard to remember back to when Sharper Image seemed to do no wrong, appealing to shoppers who yearned for a little bit of luxury or excitement in their lives.

However, even with the sharp stock price reduction Sharper Image shares suffered today, with a forward P/E of 20, it hardly sounds like a deal. That's especially considering the company may be having some problems with execution. Investors who want to make a bet on sharper days for Sharper Image should likely wait for a cheaper chance.

Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.