It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Gymboree
Both companies had to contend with the same shaky consumer confidence, rising oil prices, Jupiter aligning with Mars, and so forth. Gymboree's management thanked everyone from its designers and manufacturers to the marketing team that drove new customers into the arms of the "fantastic sales associates." What's gonna work? Teamwork!
And so the fourth-quarter outlook turned brighter, raising the company's earnings floor to $0.88 per share from the original $0.78-per-share guidance. Same-store sales increased by "mid to high single digits" over last year. This operation is clearly firing on all cylinders right now.
The same story can't be told over at the Children's Place. The company's eponymous stores saw a decent 2% comparable-stores revenue gain over last December, but management didn't thank anybody for that feat, instead explaining it with management decisions like inventory levels and big sales. Passing the buck was easy, though -- Disney
Okay, so Lightning McQueen pulled in $244 million in domestic theater receipts, according to Box Office Mojo. Remy and Linguini only managed $206 million. The DVD release figures are harder to come by, so the box office will have to be our proxy for holiday disc sales.
Pardon me, but that race was close enough that some spirited merchandising could have made up for the difference. I'm not buying the rats-versus-cars excuse. Especially since the spokesperson said that "media comps were positive for the month, albeit a small portion of overall sales" at the end of the presentation.
In my review of Gymboree's latest quarterly report, I wondered whether a macroeconomic meltdown would separate the retailer wheat from the chaff, and finally give ol' Gymbo the respect and valuation it deserves. While many strong retailers ended the last month of 2007 with negative comps, Gymboree showed respectable positive numbers. But the company still trades at a discounted forward P/E of 11 compared to rivals like Gap
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