Just about a year ago, Rick Aristotle Munarriz took a look at warehouse club operator PriceSmart
To understand why this has happened, one needn't look much further than the company's recent news file. Last week, PriceSmart -- which operates in Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean -- said September same-store sales rose 6.8% year over year despite some store closures caused by hurricanes. (The company's "comps" were similar in August.) And last month it moved to clarify its financial picture by raising cash, paying off debt, and exchanging its common stock for its preferred stock.
Investors in PriceSmart, which runs a business akin to Costco
At the time, management admitted to continued challenges in merchandising and operations and vowed to address them -- it hopes that the appointment of consultant Jose Luis Laparte, who has international Sam's Club experience, will help. (Laparte was to take the post from Chairman and interim CEO Robert Price this month.) The top-line upturn, it seems, has investors thinking that it already has.
Fool contributor Dave Marino-Nachison doesn't own any of the companies in this story.