AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (ANN)

The first thing I notice about Ann Taylor is that 1.9X book seems expensive considering it is definitely not a growth company. Its' best strategy is to shrink. The company is debt free with $3 of net cash on hand. Last year's loss was 80% of roe, but this was exagerrated by massive non-cash writeoffs. Even before its 80% loss year, ROE was unimpressive -- averaging about 10%. Excluding items, analysts expect a 24 cent loss for the year ending 01/10 and a 21 cent profit for the year ending 01/11. After subtracting the $3.00 cash from the share price, you get an adjusted share price of $11. This is 31 TIMES expected earning for FY ended 01/2011.

I have purchased ANN :-

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ann&.yficrumb=yIQAwlz5SoW

Industry: retail (apparel)
EPS = -7.30
EPS EST 1yr = -0.227 2yr = 0.339
EPS EST Q1 = 0.062 Q2 = -0.312
PE = na Industry 18.1
PB = 1.83 Industry 1.8
PS = 0.39 Industry 0.6
P/CF = na industry 17.7
P/FCF = 50.2 Industry 14.4
Yield 0.0 Industry 0.0
Gross profit margin = 47.9 Industry 36.0
Operating margin = -25.5 Industry 0.2
Net Profit Margin = -21.5 Industry 0.9
ROA = -37.7 Industry 1.4
ROE = -80.7 Industry 5.2
Insider ownership = 2.9
Greenblatt ROC = -92.65
Greenblatt Earnings Yield = 0.00
PosFCF generic % free cash flow yield 1.99%***
Passes 12 of 17 of Mike Klein's metrics
MaxPrice = 64.59 Discount 80%**
Metrics from qtr ending 8/01/2009
Caps rank 1
http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/ANN.aspx
MC score 235

All good enough for my money. I only suggest stocks that I own !

(See posts 388/584/665/760/1051/1807/2213/3546/3755/4046/4208/4225/4345/4573/4818/5241/5242/5310/5461/5579/
5169/7651 on 'Investment Analysis Clubs / Dynamic Value Investing ' board for extra due diligence applied ). **MaxPrice is a generic version of Mike Klein's Maxprice and ROC and Earnings yields are generic versions of Greenblatt's metrics. *** PosFCF generic % free cash flow yield taken from AAII and posts 5248 and 5253

See 'Investment Analysis Clubs / Dynamic Value Investing' board and my CAPS profile for further excellent companies selling at a discount to Maxprice with excellent current metrics. CAPS only shows my selections over 100Mill (unfortunately due to restricted lower market cap applied by MF CAPS).

As stated on the 'Investment Analysis Clubs /Dynamic Value Investing' board my aim is to obtain up to 50% returns p.a. as Buffett stated he could obtain (3 times) recently. A very difficult task but you can follow along with my buys and sells on my CAPS page, where I put my money where my mouth is . If I perform well I hope you can benefit. If not , feel free to ignore my comments. CAPS allows each and everyone of us to be clinically judged on our stock picking abilities over the LONG TERM.

Please always do your own due diligence before investing.

Manucastle :o)

Good stuff to wear.

When we get out of the finacal problems the country. This stock, like the rest of retail, will rise

Big positive earnings surprise most recent quarter.

Are you serious? This company is only months away from a chapter 13 re-organization. There is no way they can correct this ship in time. The consumer is years away from a recovery and they have already had to use 1/2 their credit line! Unless you own put options this company is going to cost you a LOT of money! Take this bear rally as a gift and GET OUT! Twice the expected analyst loss.......change it's name to Ann "Titanic" Taylor.

Ann Taylor is a solid retailer but the holiday season has been tough all around and except for the Ann Taylor Loft division the company has not been doing so well keeping up with deeply discounted department stores.

Overall though I believe they will perform in the first half of 2009 as they have a very strong and loyal customer base, low to no debt and a strong retail presence.

This stock is beat up because retail is beat up. However, they have no debt and should be able to survive 2009. By the end of 2009 ANN should see an uptrend.

another great value play.

it's no talbot's, but then again, it's no chico's, either. not ready for the pasture, but hobbling through the next year or two.

great clothing

Better than expected earnings means buy buy buy, right? Wrong. The worst is yet to come for US retail.

Raised Guidance

This stock has been hit hard, like most retailers. I am a loyal Ann Taylor customer, and I always look for sales. At $25/share, this is a big one.

They have the best, decently priced clothes on the market for professional women. We have to work, and we can't go naked.

Female CEO: Kay Krill

She's fashion forward. All women my age shop there and I think as long as they grow as expected, Ann Taylor Stores will be a hit. It's good to buy retail now when the economy is down - but it's especially good to buy Ann Taylor Stores considering their gross margin.

retailer/ann taylor

This is at a 52 week low.

The retailers are getting pulverized. This store will rebound when consumer spending does.

Ann Taylor is another case in the retail world of what I expect to be 'duck and cover.' Ann Taylor saw a modest rise in same store sales in September, but that was largely from their lesser priced Loft locations. The higher margin and more expensive Ann Taylor locations performed poorly like their competitors. Consumers are not spending like they once were and 3 months ago this trend shifted dramatically. Credit crunches and rising mortgage rates, as well as overall economic uncertainty are really scaring the consumer away from these higher brand names. I expect earnings estimates to fall here and fall rapidly. That long-term uptrend will easily break within six months as I see little chance for this it outperform in this environment.

Nero

Sagetrade