New Jersey-based Pathmark Stores (NASDAQ:PTMK) reported third-quarter earnings Tuesday morning, and if the grocery-store chain were, say, a basketball team, the hometown crowd would be rooting for a fourth-quarter rally. True, revenue at the company ticked up by 0.1% compared with the year-ago period, but Pathmark still shed more than $18.3 million during the quarter -- a figure that translates into a decline of $0.36 per stub.
On a per-share basis, Pathmark's loss this time around triples the loss the company reported during the third quarter of fiscal 2004. And while that unfavorable comparison owes in large measure to adjustments and special-items charges, investors weren't exactly in a forgive-and-forget mood on the day of the company's announcement. By the close of the market's business on Nov. 29, Pathmark had shed more than 3% of its value. (The Russell 2000, for small-cap comparison's sake, ticked up by a third of a percentage point on the day.)
That said, investors have bid up the company's shares by more than 80% on the year, and so, in addition to the glum earnings report, one suspects that the pullback here may reflect a bit of sobering up -- or perhaps even buyers' remorse -- on the part of Pathmark's shareholders.
Free cash flow (FCF) at Pathmark, after all, was a mere $2.4 million for all of fiscal 2004. And while FCF shot up to more than $30 million during the 12 months ended in July 2005, the improvement was largely the result of management reining in expenditures rather than growing the company's cash-from-operations figure.
Fiscal restraint is admirable, of course, but given the intensely competitive nature of Pathmark's industry -- Kroger (NYSE:KR), Safeway (NYSE:SWY), Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFMI) and Albertsons (NYSE:ABS) all play in its space, for example -- tightening the purse strings will only take you so far.
With that in mind -- not to mention the company's rocket-booster year-to-date momentum and disappointing Q3 -- this seems like a good time for investors to consider checking out with their gains. New shoppers, in the meantime, may want to consider other options. Safeway looks especially intriguing just now, boasting trailing-12-month multiples that weigh in significantly below those of the grocery industry in general and the broader market as well.
Shop these Foolish aisles:
- Albertsons Waiting to Ring the Register
- Safeway's Organic Growth
- Distractions at Whole Foods
- Supermarkets: Opportunity or Value Trap?
Whole Foods Market is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation.
Shannon Zimmerman runs point on The Motley Fool's Champion Funds newsletter service and owns none of the companies mentioned above. You can check out the Fool's disclosure policy by clicking right here.
