Coldwater Creek
Third-quarter profits at Coldwater Creek skyrocketed 51.8% to $15.9 million, or $0.17 per share. Sales increased 37.2% to $256.4 million. Same-store sales increased 9.9%, compared with a 6.8% increase in comps this time last year. Gross profit rose to 47.7% of sales from 46.8% of sales.
If you take a look at our Fool by Numbers for the full story, you'll see there's a lot to like about the retailer. For example, Coldwater Creek's got $108 million in cash and no debt. On the other hand, inventory rose 57.3%, outpacing sales growth.
Honestly, though, I'm not sure I quite understand what has caused the fire sale on Coldwater Creek's shares (at my last check, the stock had dropped nearly 9%). It was a very impressive quarter, and despite the fact that the company said the fall season has been "highly promotional," its margins didn't suffer. One of the trends this past summer was for investors to react poorly if a company didn't increase its earnings outlook. Maybe that's part of the reason why investors aren't looking too fondly on Coldwater Creek right now.
Overall, though, Coldwater Creek's consistently impressive quarters have shown it has been competing admirably for the older female shopper, similar to the one that Chico's
And of course, that's why Coldwater Creek trades at a whopping 53 times trailing earnings. Much like the events that befell Chico's and Urban Outfitters
Last quarter, I admitted that Coldwater Creek's been firing on all cylinders, but I did feel that at some point better prices might come investors' way, and now there's a glimmer of that sort of opportunity. (Despite the fact that I don't think there's anything particularly ominous about Coldwater Creek's third quarter. In fact, it looks pretty darn impressive to me.) However, even with today's price cut, Coldwater Creek stock may still qualify as a pricey endeavor if it can't continue to live up to investors' high expectations.
For more on Coldwater Creek, catch up with the following Foolish articles:
- Check out the Fool by Numbers for Coldwater Creek.
- Last quarter, Jeremy McNealy checked out Coldwater's conference call.
- Here's another take on last quarter at Coldwater.
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Alyce Lomax owns shares of Urban Outfitters. The Fool has a disclosure policy.