This post was originally published on this site
CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday blasted Bed Bath & Beyond‘s decision to announce disappointing same-store sales figures well ahead of its fourth-quarter earnings release.
However, Cramer said investors could use the subsequent stock plunge as a buying opportunity. “I would buy it,” he added.
Bed Bath & Beyond shares sank about 25% on Wednesday after the home goods retailer said after the bell Tuesday that December and January same-store sales dropped 5.4%.
Wall Street had been expecting a decline of 3.97% for the fiscal fourth quarter.
“I don’t even know why the hell they did that. They didn’t have guidance. Why revise guidance if you didn’t have guidance?” Cramer said on “Squawk Box,” referencing the company’s decision in January to withdraw its full-year outlook.
Bed Bath & Beyond hit a 52-week low of $7.31 on Aug. 15. It reached its highest level in the past 12 months on April 4, trading at $19.57.
The stock was trading around $11 on Wednesday.
Bed Bath & Beyond said in a statement it decided to announce the sales figures “to provide visibility into the current pressures on the business.” The company will report full fourth-quarter numbers on April 15.
The company attributed the declines to falling store traffic, inventory management issues and additional markdowns and promotions.
Regardless of what caused the challenges and why the company wanted to announce them early, the “Mad Money” host said personnel changes should follow. He said he believed CEO Mark Tritton likely received bad advice.
“Whatever advice he got from what lawyer, from the chairman, I think all those people need to be broomed and broomed yesterday,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.”
“I would put some new people in and say, ‘Enough is enough, don’t tell me what to do,'” he said earlier. “Guided down? They didn’t have a guidance.”
Bed Bath & Beyond did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Cramer’s remarks.
Cramer said he liked Tritton, who was Target’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer before taking over as Bed Bath & Beyond CEO in November.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond soared 21% after Tritton’s hiring was announced late on Oct. 9. Even with Wednesday’s slide, the stock is up about 14% since then.
At the time, Cramer said Tritton could help deliver brighter days for the struggling retailer. He recommended buying a small amount of the stock then, after regularly advising viewers to stay away from it.
“I think it’s time to go positive on this one,” Cramer said on Oct. 10 on “Mad Money.”
“Bed Bath’s been punished enough. Now that they’ve got a competent CEO, better than that, a great CEO coming in, I’m betting the stock could have a lot more upside,” he said then.
