"Every time I hit rock bottom, somebody throws me a shovel." -- Garfield
Few companies can match Spectrum Brands (NYSE:SPC) for the pace of the erosion in its forward estimates and current market capitalization. You wouldn't think that a collection of household brands would be so volatile and hard to handle, but it appears that this company is still struggling to find a bottom from which to rebound.
The company formerly known as Rayovac had amply warned folks that this quarter would be ugly, and it delivered on that pledge. Sales were down 4% on an organic basis, led in particular by poor results in the battery business. High materials costs continue to hurt margins, and the company reported a substantially lower pro-forma profit. And the rotten cherry atop this mess was a further cut in guidance.
It's not as though this is the first time Spectrum Brands has dropped guidance, either. In fact, it has been foundering for quite some time, making management's comment about the need to "execute flawlessly" on cost-cutting initiatives almost laughable.
I tend to like these smaller housewares/consumer products companies: I'm a bit interested in Chattem (NASDAQ:CHTT) these days and I've found Helen of Troy (NASDAQ:HELE) to be interesting from time to time. But with Spectrum Brands, I just don't know at this point. Sure, Rayovac is well-known and the company led off its press release with the mention of "world-class" brands, but Rayovac basically was booted out of stores like K-Mart (part of the new Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD)) and OfficeMax (NYSE:OMX). Truly world-class brands aren't shown the door like that.
Maybe, just maybe, this is the bottom and the company can overcome destocking at places like Wal-Mart and Home Depot and compete better against the likes of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) and Philips (NYSE:PHG). But I don't like investing in maybes, particularly maybes with poor histories of returns on capital and whomping debt loads.
I'll certainly keep an eye on this as a turnaround candidate, but I'd first like to see at least a month or two go by without estimates going lower yet again.
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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
