Yesterday, 1-800-Flowers.com (NASDAQ:FLWS) announced that its fiscal fourth-quarter sales are expected to increase by 4% over last year's results. Investors reacted as if they had just stepped in fresh fertilizer and dumped the stock, causing it to plummet 12.1%. The company was trimmed from portfolios across the board on volume of 1.4 million, compared to its average volume of 116,000.
The company is now forecasting quarterly sales of $161 million, which is a 4.9% decrease from the street's estimate of $169.3 million. As a result of the disappointing quarter, revenue growth for the year is expected to be 7% at $603 million.
1-800-Flowers.com blamed the cloudy outlook on disappointing sales in its home-and-garden sector, which typically generates high margins. The company has already begun implementing plans to improve its product offering and marketing programs. Based upon early results, the company expects its home-and-garden business segment to flourish in fiscal 2005.
So, were investors correct to till up 1-800-Flowers.com, or will the company be able to spring back to life? We won't know for sure until all the data is released in early August. Despite the drop in price, the company still can't be considered a bargain, trading at nearly 25 times forward earnings. However, based upon its blossoming performance earlier this year as well as its record-setting results last quarter, the company continues to grow. This could be a good opportunity to take advantage of the summer sale.
Fool contributor Mike Cianciolo welcomes feedback and doesn't own shares of 1-800-Flowers.com.
