Today, shares of Tommy Hilfiger (NYSE:TOM) rose a bit on speculation that retail giant Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) might have half a mind to acquire it. Yes, it sounds far-fetched, at least to this Fool, but is it just crazy enough to be true?
Fool contributor Jennifer Schonberger commented earlier this month on the idea that Tommy Hilfiger planned to auction itself off. Among the elements at work are the company's flagging popularity here in the States, although Jennifer pointed out that the brand shows potential in Europe.
Liz Claiborne (NYSE:LIZ) and Jones Apparel (NYSE:JNY) are among the companies rumored to have an interest, according to Jennifer. It might not be terribly surprising to see Liz Claiborne as an acquirer; I recently realized that Liz has been busily acquiring many brands that one might not expect, such as Juicy Couture. It's also picked up a majority interest in Lucky Brands.
Investors may be excited by the rumors, but I've got to voice my doubts. After all, the source for the news article was Women's Wear Daily, which was the recent source of whispers that Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) was eyeing J. Jill (NASDAQ:JILL), an idea that I thought sounded a bit unbelievable. Affirming my doubts, Urban Outfitters later made a statement saying it was not considering such a purchase.
There's also the question of why Wal-Mart would consider such an acquisition. Maybe it thinks it would do well to acquire a brand that has a whole lot of name recognition to better compete with arch-rival Target (NYSE:TGT), which is often considered more fashion-savvy. On the other hand, Tommy Hilfiger's rep for peddling fairly expensive name-brand merchandise makes a Wal-Mart acquisition sound a bit far-fetched.
"Buy on the rumor, sell on the news" happens quite frequently in the stock market, but that doesn't mean that savvy investors should jump on such hearsay. After all, rumors may make good conversation pieces, but they're not logical investment theses. Investors who don't heed the advice of not believing everything they hear risk being left holding the bag.
For related Foolish content, please see the following stories:
- Revisit Hilfiger's bid on value.
- Check out the August rumors that Urban Outfitters might court Jill.
- Early in the summer, one Fool contributor wondered whether Tommy could turn around.
Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.
