The Q1 2014 earnings report for the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: BONT), a peer of other department store stocks like J.C. Penney Company, Inc (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) and Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: SHLD), is due out before the market opens on Thursday. Aside from the Bon-Ton Stores' earnings report, it should be said that troubled Sears Holdings Corp is also scheduled to report earnings before the market opens on Thursday while J.C. Penney Company, Inc and Kohl's Corporation both reported Q1 2014 earnings last Thursday. However, the Bon-Ton Stores is heading into earnings with rather high short interest of 35.05% according to HighShortInterest.com.
What Should You Watch Out for With the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc Earnings Report?First, here is a quick recap of Bon-Ton Stores' recent earnings history from Yahoo! Finance:
| EPS Est | -1.48 | -1.38 | -0.29 | 2.74 |
| EPS Actual | -1.39 | -1.74 | -0.03 | 3.33 |
| Difference | 0.09 | -0.36 | 0.26 | 0.59 |
| Surprise % | 6.10% | -26.10% | 89.70% | 21.50% |
Back in March, the Bon-Ton Stores reported Q4 2013 EPS of $3.04 and revenue of $914.9M verses expectations of $2.74 and $980.95M while comparable store sales sank 7.3%. Results were blamed on snowstorms and the polar vortex. The company also forecasted FY14 EPS of $0.40 to $0.70, below expectations of $0.99, and same-store sales in the 1% to 3% range. The CEO did comment:
"We have made great strides in executing our strategic initiatives and will continue to focus on enhancing our merchandise assortments, driving our eCommerce business, refining our marketing strategy and moving forward with our localization initiative, all with an eye on improving our productivity. We are excited about our new eCommerce fulfillment center, which will permit significant expansion of our shipping capacity with improved operational efficiency. We will continue strengthening our foundation to deliver profitable sales growth in the coming years."
This time around and according to the Yahoo! Finance analyst estimates page, the consensus expects revenue of $642.16 million and EPS of -$1.23 - worst than the EPS of -$0.87 expected ninety days ago.
On the news front, it was reported last Thursday that Gabelli had raised its stake in Bon-Ton Stores to 14.19% from 13.12% while CEO Brendan Hoffman, the one-time CEO at Lord & Taylor, will step down next February. His resignation for "personal reasons" was announced at the same time earnings came out the last time around, but at least the company has time to plan a transition.
What do the Bon-Ton Stores, Inc Charts Say?The latest technical chart for Bon-Ton Stores looks like a Great America roller-coaster ride for investors:
What's even more scary is that over the longer term, the Bon-Ton Stores have been a better albeit more volatile performer than other department store stocks like J.C. Penney Company, Inc, Kohl's Corporation and Sears Holdings Corp:
The technical charts also show that J.C. Penney Company and even Sears Holdings Corp is starting to look more bullish while Kohl's Corporation has been bouncing around between the $49 and $58 range for some time now and
The Bon-Ton Stores earnings report will be worth waiting for given the amount of short interest that's out on the stock. If there is any sign that spring has arrived, the bears could quickly be forced into hiding. However, investors who aren't speculators willing to bet on a turnaround can probably find a much better retail stock to invest in.
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