Stage Stores Inc
Stage Stores, Inc. (NYSE: SSI) announced today that it received notification from the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") on March 12, 2020 that the company is no longer in compliance with the NYSE continued listing criteria that requires listed companies to maintain an average closing share price of at least $1.00 over a consecutive 30 trading-day period.
RF Capital Management LLC is the investment management company founded by Roger Fan in 2017. Roger Fan is the fund’s Chief Investment Officer. Recently, RF Capital released its Q1 2020 Investor Letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. In its Q1 2020 Investor Letter, RF Capital reported a 27.13% decline in its quarterly returns. […]
Stage Stores, Inc. (NYSE: SSI) ("Stage" or the "Company") today announced a series of steps the Company is taking to reduce costs and preserve liquidity in response to increasingly challenging market conditions and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These steps include:
Stage Stores , the owner of Gordmans, Bealls and Goody's chains, which are located predominately in smaller cities in the South and Midwest, filed for bankruptcy protection. "This is a very difficult announcement and it was a decision that we reached only after exhausting every possible alternative," said Michael Glazer, president and CEO, in a statement. Stage Stores said it would reopen 557 of its stores on May 15 and begin selling off inventory.
However, the company is still moving ahead with plans to convert all locations to its low-price brand, Gordmans, which will celebrate more than 100 grand openings throughout March.
The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has sent global markets into bear territory and economies into recession. And as the pandemic stretches on, it's inducing a growing number of bankruptcy filings.Though, in most cases, COVID-19 has simply acted as the straw that broke the camel's back.Consider the retail industry, which has endured a particularly difficult past two months. Most "non-essential" retailers are feeling the pain, However, those that were already overloaded with debt, as well as suffering from long-term declines amid changing tastes and Americans' swelling adoption of online shopping, have been pushed over the edge.But it's not just retail. COVID-19 is forcing companies across several industries to seek out Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and other types of relief. Consider the energy sector, where the oil declines of 2014-16 weakened a number of exploration and production companies, only to have coronavirus-sparked demand slumps finish off the job. Financially wobbly companies in the restaurant and entertainment industries are starting to collapse, too.Just remember: Bankruptcy filings aren't always "the end." In many cases, Chapter 11 reorganizations and other maneuvers help companies shed significant amounts of debt, allowing them to continue operating as they try to find a new way forward. That said, COVID-19 is threatening to knock a few well-known brand names out of existence entirely.Here are 14 companies whose recent bankruptcy filings can be chalked up to the COVID-19 outbreak. In most cases, these businesses were already showing signs of financial duress - the coronavirus merely delivered the coup de grâce. SEE ALSO: 21 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Selling (And 1 He Bought)
Stage, owner of Gordmans, Bealls and Goody's, has suffered greatly from the coronavirus pandemic.
With stores closed and the shift to online accelerated by the coronavirus, retailers are struggling, with some, like department stores, particularly vulnerable.
Houston-based Stage Stores Inc. (NYSE: SSI) had its own set of struggles even before the coronavirus pandemic brought much of the retail sector to a halt.
It is not uncommon to see companies perform well in the years after insiders buy shares. The flip side of that is that...
Stock prices for retailers in the Houston area are taking a hit as supply chain concerns and a global pandemic continue to rattle markets. Monday, March 9 was the first time stock trading was halted since 1997, per the Wall Street Journal. In a primetime address March 11, President Donald Trump announced a 30-day travel ban to many European nations to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Stage Stores, Inc. (NYSE: SSI) ("Stage" or the "Company") today announced that the Company has filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The Company will simultaneously solicit bids for a going concern sale of the business or any of its assets and initiate an orderly wind-down of operations. The Company will terminate the wind-down of operations at certain locations if it receives a viable going-concern bid.
(Bloomberg) -- Retail landlords are sending out thousands of default notices to tenants, a situation that could tip already-ailing retailers into bankruptcy or total collapse.Department stores, restaurants, apparel merchants and specialty chains have been getting the notices as property owners who’ve gone unpaid for as long as three months lose patience, according to people with knowledge of the matter and court filings.“The default letters from landlords are flying out the door,” said Andy Graiser, co-president of A&G Real Estate Partners, whose firm works with retailers and other commercial tenants. “It’s creating a real fear in the marketplace,” Graiser said.Pressure from default notices and follow-up actions like locking up stores or terminating leases was cited in the bankruptcies of Modell’s Sporting Goods and Stage Stores Inc. Many chains stopped paying rent after the pandemic shuttered most U.S. stores, gambling that they could hold on to some cash before landlords demanded payment.The stakes are enormous, and landlords are suffering, too. An estimated $7.4 billion in rent for April hasn’t been paid, or about 45% of what’s owed, according to data analyzed by CoStar Group.“If the landlords don’t put a pause on their actions, you’re going to see more bankruptcies,” Graiser said.To be sure, not every default letter is followed by a padlock on the door. In some cases, landlords are sending letters just to preserve their legal rights while they talk with their tenants.Simon Property Group Inc. says it’s in discussions with merchants at its malls and trying to take into account their financial status, market position and the depth of their relationship. “The bottom line is, we do have a contract and we do expect to get paid,” Chief Executive Officer David Simon said during the company’s May 11 earnings call.No PaymentsBut the landlords are stuck with their own bills and bank debts to pay. By some measures, they’ve already been more than patient. Normally, they’d send out default notices as soon as 10 days after missed payments, rather than waiting weeks or months.“The landlords do have the legal contract,” said Vince Tibone, a senior analyst at Green Street Advisors. “However, from a practicality standpoint, a lot of these retailers are on the brink of bankruptcy and simply cannot pay right now.”Batches of default notices went out to Stage Stores before it filed for court protection this month, according to court papers. It didn’t pay rent in March, April or May after shuttering its stores and furloughing almost all its staff.The letters began arriving in March and early April, “but the rate of such notices picked up materially in late April and early May,” Stage Stores said. Some landlords began locking the company out “and threatened to evict the debtors and dispose of the in-store inventory.”“Responding to and managing these default notices and related litigation outside of Chapter 11 would have been a monumentally difficult task,” Stage Stores said.For those already weighing bankruptcy, shutdowns caused by the pandemic upended normal calculations. Filing for Chapter 11 allows retailers to reject unwanted leases, but they’re also required to keep paying rent during the process until the court approves the cancellations.That’s hard to do with little or no revenue coming in because of the pandemic shutdowns. Even if the stores can open, consumers may be hesitant to shop, making it hard to raise cash from stores that are meant to survive the bankruptcy or from going-out-of-business sales.Retailers need adequate liquidity at the start of a bankruptcy case to keep operating, Graiser said, and if they have to pay rent while their stores are shuttered, the odds of emerging decrease.“It’s not like there’s a lot of investors out there looking to buy retailers in a Chapter 11,” Graiser said. “Landlords and retailers need to really come together and realize that this a shared pain.”Getting TestySome landlords get it, according to Tom Mullaney, managing director of restructuring at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., the real estate services firm. Retailers he represents are getting default letters that are understanding and sympathetic; other landlords strike a more combative tone.What’s more interesting is the action, or lack of it, by the landlords afterward, Mullaney said. “In a lot of cases, the letters that are being sent aren’t being followed up on,” he said -- the landlords are simply preserving their legal rights.That said, some property owners have run out of patience and have locked out Mullaney’s clients.“The environment is getting pretty testy and emotional on both sides of the table,” he said. “The only thing worse than being a retailer right now is being a retail landlord.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- Stage Stores Inc., the owner of rural department and discount stores including Goody’s, Peebles and Gordmans, filed for bankruptcy protection, adding to the toll of traditional retailers felled by too much debt and the economic shocks of the coronavirus.The retailer will simultaneously seek buyers for parts or all of its business while it also begins to wind down operations, Stage Stores said in a statement late Sunday. It will start reopening stores that have been closed by the pandemic, with about 557 outlets scheduled to open May 15 to conduct liquidation sales.The company’s Chapter 11 filing in its home city of Houston listed assets and liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion each.While the retailer had been seeking to bolster its financial position in recent months, “the increasingly challenging market environment was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which required us to temporarily close all of our stores and furlough the vast majority of our associates,” President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Glazer said in the statement. “Given these conditions, we have been unable to obtain necessary financing and have no choice but to take these actions.”As of 2019, Stage Stores was running more than 700 department stores in 42 states under banners that also included Bealls and Palais Royal, according to regulatory filings. Most of the department stores are in small towns and rural communities, while the off-price stores such as Gordmans are predominantly located in mid-sized, non-rural Midwest markets.The company is composed partly of chains that previously went bust. Stage Stores was formed in 1988 when managers of Palais Royal and several venture capital firms acquired Bealls and Palais Royal, which date from the 1920s.Bankruptcy SalesThey bought Peebles Inc. in 2003, and added the “Goody’s” name in 2009 from Goody’s Family Clothing Inc. through a bankruptcy auction. In 2017, the company acquired some assets of Gordmans Stores Inc., also through bankruptcy.A second group of about 67 stores are expected to reopen May 28 and the remainder will open on June 4, the company said in its statement. The company will stop winding down operations at certain locations if it receives a viable going-concern bid, it said.Kirkland & Ellis is acting as the company’s legal adviser while PJ Solomon is its investment banker. Other professionals include Berkeley Research Group as restructuring adviser, A&G Realty as real estate adviser and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, which will manage inventory clearance sales.The case is Stage Stores Inc., 20-32564, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston)(Adds reopening plan starting in second paragraph, CEO comment in fourth)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
High-risk stocks leave a sour taste with most seasoned investors. When someone says a stock is "high risk," everyone grimaces. High risk? Who wants that? Give me low risk every day of the week! It's a common perception of high-risk stocks, but it misses one very important truth about financial markets: risk and reward are closely correlated. That is, where there's risk, there's also reward.Does that mean you should go out and form an aggressive portfolio of stocks in hopes of maximizing reward? Not exactly. You should still avoid risky stocks … for the most part.That said, every once in a while, a stock plump with risk is worth rolling the dice on. Specifically when the odds are favorable and the upside potential is just that compelling.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 30 Stocks on a Deathwatch With that in mind, let's take a closer look at 10 high-risk stocks which could go either way over the next few years: High-Risk Stocks: Aurora (ACB)Source: Shutterstock Why It Could Go Boom: Leading Canadian cannabis producer Aurora (NYSE:ACB) could explode higher over the next few years, if two things happen.First, the Canadian and global cannabis markets have to start growing concurrently and at a healthy pace, which seems entirely doable considering how policy globally is changing and the amount of new products coming to market.Second, Aurora has to avoid bankruptcy and improve its profitability profile, which also seems entirely doable with the company's near-$500 million cash position and recent cost-cutting initiatives.Why It Could Go Bust: Aurora stock could go bust -- and go to zero -- if the company doesn't leverage improving cannabis market dynamics and cost-cutting initiatives to drive the company into profitable territory soon.The balance sheet can withstand sustained for losses for a little while longer. But not much longer. And if the company doesn't turn a profit soon, insolvency risks will be magnified, and ACB stock will keep plunging. Stage Stores (SSI)Source: LM Photos / Shutterstock.com Why It Could Go Boom: In 2019, antiquated and depressed department store operator Stage Stores (NYSE:SSI) committed to converting all of its full-price Stage Stores locations into off-price Gordmans. The idea is that off-price physical retail has a future while full-price physical retail does not.The transition began to bear promising fruit in late 2019. If this transition continues with equally robust momentum in 2020, Stage Stores' deteriorating revenue and profit trends could turn around in a big way, and SSI stock could turn into a multi-bagger.Why It Could Go Bust: Point blank, Stage Stores may not have the money to pull off the turnaround. The company had a weaker-than-expected holiday season. This pressured what was an already significantly stressed balance sheet. Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company has been forced to close all of its stores. This only worsened Stage Stores' financial straits. * 20 Stocks to Buy If You're Still Betting on America to Thrive Coming out of this crisis, Stage Stores may not have the capital necessary to keep the lights on, let alone pull off hundreds of off-price store conversions. If they don't, bankruptcy becomes a real option for this depressed retailer. High-Risk Stocks: Luckin Coffee (LK)Source: Keitma / Shutterstock.com Why It Could Go Boom: Chinese retail coffee house operator Luckin Coffee (NYSE:LK) is what growth stories are made of. The so-called Starbucks of China operated less than a dozen coffee houses in China by 2017's end. Today, Luckin's coffee flows through more than 4,500 stores!If Luckin's robust growth continues -- and if Chinese consumers increase their coffee consumption -- then Luckin could sustain its huge growth numbers for several years. If it does, LK stock will soar.Why It Could Go Bust: Let's not forget, Luckin overstated its transaction volume by about 70% in 2019, meaning its red-hot growth narrative isn't as hot as the Street believed. Luckin now has two big problems: legal problems and credibility problems.On the legal front, lawsuits will come down against Luckin, and the company may not have the financial resources to deal with all those lawsuits and remain solvent. Even if it does, the company will come out the other side with a huge credibility problem.It will take a long time before investors trust Luckin's numbers again (if they ever do). This lack of trust could weigh on the stock for the next few quarters, even if lawsuits don't drag the stock to the graveyard. Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY)Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com Why It Could Go Boom: There's a new and capable chief executive officer over at Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) -- former Target (NYSE:TGT) executive Mark Tritton.Under his leadership, Bed Bath & Beyond could execute an omnichannel-commerce-powered turnaround over the next few years, similar to the one that Target executed over the past few years.That turnaround propelled huge gains in Target's stock. And it wasn't priced for bankruptcy. Bed Bath & Beyond stock is. Thus, a Triton-led turnaround in Bed Bath & Beyond over the next few years could propel enormous gains in BBBY's stock.Why It Could Go Bust: The coronavirus pandemic has put tremendous pressure on retailers of all shapes and sizes. Bed Bath & Beyond is no exception.The company was already cash-strapped to pull off a turnaround before the pandemic. Now, Bed Bath & Beyond is more cash-strapped than ever before. That doesn't bode well for the company's chances to successfully pull off a 2020 turnaround. * 10 Stocks to Buy to Weather the Recession If Triton doesn't pull of this turnaround soon, then bankruptcy will become a real risk for Bed Bath & Beyond in late 2020 or early 2021. High-Risk Stocks: New Age Beverages (NBEV)Source: Shutterstock Why It Could Go Boom: The fundamentals supporting New Age Beverages (NASDAQ:NBEV) could meaningfully improve in 2020. Demand trends could improve in a big way as the company's increasingly relevant drink portfolio of low-calorie, organic drinks gains wider national distribution. Think partnerships with the likes of Circle K, 7-Eleven and Walmart (NYSE:WMT).Margin trends could simultaneously improve with scale and reduced reliance on marketing spend. If so, New Age Beverages' profits could trend up in a big way this year. If they do, NBEV stock will take off like a rocket ship.Why It Could Go Bust: The global beverage market is a tough one. It's riddled with fickle demand, very little brand loyalty and a ton of reliance on distribution.In that tough market, New Age is one of its smaller, less-established players. Management knows they have to spend big to grow big. If the aforementioned distribution partnerships don't pan out, then spending growth will continue to outpace revenue growth, and New Age's profit trends will remain depressed.If that happens, NBEV stock will remain similarly depressed. GameStop (GME)Source: Shutterstock Why It Could Go Boom: The conventional wisdom on Wall Street is that physical video game retailer GameStop (NYSE:GME) is doomed to follow in the footsteps of Blockbuster. But that may not happen if the company successfully crafts a niche for itself in hardware and digital software.If the company can do that, then GameStop will have enormous upside potential over the next decade as the video game market booms alongside next-generation technological advancements, like 5G and AR/VR.Why It Could Go Bust: Of course, GameStop could also end up just like Blockbuster. The invention of cloud gaming may altogether eliminate hardware video game sales, outside of accessories such as controllers and headsets. * 10 Stocks to Pick Up If We're Heading for Another Great Recession That's a tiny market, and not one that can sustain GameStop's current expense base. Also, the pivot to digital could run into some obstacles, mostly related to competition. If the physical business continues to decline and its digital business stalls, GameStop's stock price will wither away. High-Risk Stocks: Jumia (JMIA)Source: Christopher Penler / Shutterstock.com Why It Could go Boom: The last frontier of the global e-commerce revolution is Africa, which houses about 15% of the world's population yet accounts for less than 1% of global e-commerce sales.Jumia (NYSE:JMIA) is trying to be the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) of Africa. If they succeed in this mission, and leverage native logistics to turn into the backbone of Africa's e-commerce market, then the company has tremendous revenue and profit growth potential over the next decade.Inevitably, all of that growth will power JMIA stock higher.Why It Could Go Bust: It remains to be seen whether or not the Africa e-commerce market is actually ready to boom. It also remains to be seen whether Jumia has what it takes to be the Amazon of Africa. Consequently, there's simply a lot of unknowns here. So long as those unknowns stick around, JMIA stock will likely remain under pressure. iRobot (IRBT)Source: Grzegorz Czapski / Shutterstock.com Why It Could Go Boom: Household robotics company iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT) -- best know for its robotic vacuum cleaning line under the Roomba brand -- is a pure-play on the household robotics revolution.If this revolution kicks into second-gear in the 2020s, and every household across America adopts a robotic vacuum cleaner, then iRobot's growth trajectory will soar in coming years. It's also worth noting that innovative product launches, such as a robotic lawnmower, could help supercharge the company's growth narrative.Suppose iRobot does sell a lot of robotic vacuum cleaners and lawnmowers over the next three to five years. If so, beaten-up IRBT stock could rebound by more than 100% to its all-time highs.Why It Could Go Bust: Robotic vacuums may ultimately prove to be a niche market. Robotic lawnmowers, too. And all household robotics for that matter. If so, iRobot won't sell a lot of product over the next several years. Any product the company does sell, will have to be discounted to compete in what has become a crowded market. Gross margins will get whacked and profit trends will remain depressed. * 5 Streaming Stocks to Buy Right Now for Big Long-Term Gains If all that happens, then IRBT stock will remain a bust. High-Risk Stocks: Express (EXPR)Source: Helen89 / Shutterstock.com Why It Could Go Boom: A newly unveiled turnaround plan lays the groundwork for Express (NYSE:EXPR) to become a slimmer, more profitable retailer over the next few years.Specifically, in the early 2020s, management is aiming to cut the store base, reduce operating expenses, double-down on the digital business and rationalize the product SKU to be more relevant. In so doing, management hopes to turn Express into a smaller, more profitable and sustainable retailer.That retailer will come with a far higher stock price than the Express of today fetches.Why It Could Go Bust: If the turnaround plan doesn't work, the graveyard could be Express' next stop.The company has a strong balance sheet. But if it can't turn a profit or grow sales, then that strong balance sheet will weaken over time. That's especially true since the company is pouring resources into this turnaround. If the turnaround doesn't yield meaningfully positive results, Express will have less financial firepower to deploy at additional changes.All in all, then, if Express can't turn into a slimmer, more profitable retailer over the next few years, the company may join a long list of retailers who have gone under since 2010. Groupon (GRPN)Source: Shutterstock Why It Could Go Boom: Interestingly enough, Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) made the perfect pivot at the perfectly wrong time.In late February, the company announced that it was going to wean off of product-driven promotions to rely more heavily on experience-driven promotions. That's the right move. But, less than a month later, the whole world shut down thanks to Covid-19. In that shutdown, experience-driven promotions became worthless.If the Covid-19 storm passes soon, and Groupon weathers it without declaring bankruptcy, then this company could leverage its experience-driven pivot to drive a huge second-half rebound in revenues and profits. That rebound would result in huge gains for GRPN stock.Why it Could go Bust: Groupon may not make it to the second-half of 2020 to see its experience-driven pivot through to the end.That is, the company's financial resources may get sapped by the coronavirus pandemic, and force the company to shut its doors. Even if that doesn't happen, there's a risk that the hit to the experience economy in the second-half of 2020 will weigh on Groupon's business.Either way, the path forward for Groupon is littered with risks. * 10 of the Best Long-Term Stocks to Buy in This Bear Market To sum it up, these are 10 high-risk stocks could go either boom or bust in the next few years: * Aurora * Stage Stores * Luckin Coffee * Bed Bath & Beyond * New Age Beverages * GameStop * Jumia * iRobot * Express * GrouponLuke Lango is a Markets Analyst for InvestorPlace. He has been professionally analyzing stocks for several years, previously working at various hedge funds and currently running his own investment fund in San Diego. A Caltech graduate, Luke has consistently been recognized as one of the best stock pickers in the world by various other analysts and platforms, and has developed a reputation for leveraging his technology background to identify growth stocks that deliver outstanding returns. Luke is also the founder of Fantastic, a social discovery company backed by an LA-based internet venture firm. As of this writing, he was long LK and AMZN. More From InvestorPlace * America's 1 Stock Picker Reveals Next 1,000% Winner * 25 Stocks You Should Sell Immediately * 1 Under-the-Radar 5G Stock to Buy Now * The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own The post 10 High-Risk Stocks That Could Go Either Boom or Bust appeared first on InvestorPlace.
Wolf Hill Capital Management, LP is the management company of the Wolf Hill Partners fund. Insider Monkey has recently published a copy of Wolf Hill Capital’s Q1 2020 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Gary Lehrman is the fund’s founder and managing member. For Q1 2020, the fund reported a net […]
Stage Stores Inc. shares plummeted more than 20% in Friday trading after media reports that the retailer is preparing for a bankruptcy filing that could come as soon as next week. Stage Stores announced in 2019 that Bealls, Goody's, Palais Royal, Peebles and Stage department stores would be converting its stores to off-price chains, joining the Gordmans stores, which were already off-price. The company also announced 40 store closures in fiscal 2020. Holiday sales disappointed, and the company's stock has lost about 95% of its value for the year to date. The S&P 500 index is down 9.6%. Sources told CNBC that bankruptcy could be delayed or avoided. The COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on retailers, who were, in most cases, forced to close to stop the spread of the illness. Those in weak positions found themselves further weakened. J.Crew and Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy in the last week.
Stage Stores Inc. has filed for chapter 11, days after reports that bankruptcy preparations were in the works. About 557 stores are expected to reopen on May 15, 67 additional stores are expected to open by May 28 and the remaining stores will open by June 4. Liquidation will begin when stores reopen. Stage Stores portfolio includes Stage department stores, Bealls, Goody's and Palais Royal. Stage Stores has 13,600 employees, according to FactSet. The company had 738 stores as of a March 27 business update. "[T]he increasingly challenging market environment was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which required us to temporarily close all of our stores and furlough the vast majority of our associates," said Chief Executive Michael Glazer in a statement. "Given these conditions, we have been unable to obtain necessary financing and have no choice but to take these actions." The company expects to honor gift cards and returns for the first 30 days after a store reopens. Chief Financial Officer Jason Curtis is leaving the company effective May 22 to pursue an opportunity with another retailer. CEO Glazer will perform the CFO duties. Stage Stores stock, which has been halted, has lost more than 95% of its value for the year to date while the S&P 500 index is down 9.8%.
Stock futures suggest a lower start for Wall Street; Under Armour reports earnings; Stage Stores files for bankruptcy.