Pier 1 Imports, Inc. (PIR)

Latest (4-10) Earnings Report unconvincing in terms of a true turn-around...It's just marginally better than the past 3 years of increasingly horrid results due to write-downs, closings etc.

What makes this Retail stock's (economy/recession) outlook much worst than most stores is its direct-correlation to the housing market, which will remain in the dumpster for quite sometime.

PIR has been a loser stock for years. I can't see them flourishing when home prices are falling. Who's going to spend money to decorate a home they might lose?

new ceo, but he comes from clothing.

With the dollar falling, imports are more expensive, but that is just the icing on the cake for this stock.

Do you know anyone who still shops at Pier 1 imports? Whenever I go in there I find markdowns, no selection, and nothing I need for my house.

The new store design / strategy implemented by Marvin Girourd should help turn this store around. Additionally, they are sitting on a building valued at $130 or so million dollars in the hottest commercial real estate market of Fort Worth, Texas which could generate signficant cash in a sale lease-back transaction

Who can afford to buy that "FOO FOO" stuff when gas and food prices are on the rise.

CEO and executive staff not making sound finacial decisions. Example: Cuts staff by 250 over 2 years and promotes all direcotrs of merchandise to VP levels. Point, not like the merchandising team has chosen winners over the past 5 years, So, lets give them more money, elevate an already inflated ego system, aligning with new CEO and ALL senior executives and put more work on lower level work force. If morale wasn't already bad! All of the so called layoffs are now negated. If this Company has a bad holiday, not only will they lose the 104 million from sale of building, they will be headed for BK!

A business that sells a bunch of overpriced trendy crap to decorate your home with - I'm sure this will go over great in the current economic climate.

Need time to stop the bleeding. Good new CEO with proven record with regard to turnarounds- need time though. Good in a year or so- good for long term feel.

I can't believe I'm doing this. Outperform.

Too much competition...TGT can carry whatever PIR carries and sell it cheaper and to a much broader market base.

I own PIR :-

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

Industry: retail (speciality non-apparel)
EPS = -0.59
EPS EST 1yr = -0.262 2yr = 0.087
PE = na Industry 14.5
PB = 1.97 Industry 1.6
PS = 0.26 Industry 0.3
P/CF = na industry 11.9
P/FCF = na Industry 8.9
Yield 0.0 Industry 0.0
Gross profit margin = 28.3 Industry 34.3
Operating margin = -3.4 Industry -1.7
Net Profit Margin = -4.2 Industry -1.1
ROA = -8.2 Industry -4.5
ROE = -31.8 Industry 0.0
Insider ownership = 2.0
Greenblatt ROC = -16.09
Greenblatt Earnings Yield = 0.00
PosFCF generic % free cash flow yield -16.07%***
Passes 13 of 17 of Mike Klein's metrics
MaxPrice = 13.94 Discount 74%**
Metrics from qtr ending 8/29/2009
Caps rank 1
http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/PIR.aspx
MC score 236

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)

Pier 1 Imports operates as a specialty retailer of imported decorative home furnishings and gifts in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The company’s stores include three brand names: Pier 1 Imports, The Pier, and Pier 1 Kids.

The outlook for the company looks troubled in 2007 as the housing market in U.S is undergoing a sharp deceleration which is discouraging big ticket purchases like furnitures. Housing starts plunged by 20% in 2006 and looking ahead the weak sentiments are expected to exist which could hamper the performance of the company as it generates about 40% of its revenues from furniture related products. The financial performance of the company for the nine months ended November 2006 has been dismal with over 9.5% decline in the sales owing to poor customer traffic and ineffective marketing programs. Same store sales one of the key retail metrics declined by 11.6% and this trend has continued till February 2007.

Also, mortgage defaults are increasing in U.S, which could discourage further consumer spending, as consumers would shy away from making expensive purchases through borrowings. Company’s debt has increased massively over 2005 and higher interest expenses along-with increased marketing spends are taking their toll on the bottom-line, thereby widening the losses heavily. Looking ahead, the company plans to make improvements in the merchandise to drive sales. However, considering the rough environment and the weak financial performance, Pier 1 Imports arouses bearish sentiments at the prevailing price levels.

Possible turnaround or buyout story
Dirt cheap valuations but justified given string of losses. $2 in cash/$6.3 in market cap
Issues to monitor is the US dollar weakness, if this continues, will make their products more expensive, as well as competitive pressures from the likes of Target, Walmart, Bed Bath, etc. which offer cheaper yet comparable goods.

woof

I don't think there's much I can say about Pier 1 that hasn't already been said. The downhill slide just looks unstoppable, image overhaul or not.

Ugh.

Management is trimming the fat and it stock price reflects it

Company has been in the tank for several years. Negative earnings growth began long prior to the recession and will continue to grow at a record pace while debt mounts. Spending habits have shifted away from their products.