Why Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG), Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (TTS) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC) Are 3 of Today’s Worst Stocks

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Stocks may have gotten the day started on the wrong foot, disappointed that the GOP’s healthcare bill wasn’t even going to be put up for a vote due to a lack of support. Having had some time to think about the bigger picture, however, stocks managed to recover most of the ground lost at the open. The S&P 500’s index close of 2,460.61 was up 0.06% from Monday’s last trade.

Why Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG), Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (TTS) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC) Are 3 of Today's Worst StocksNot every stock got in on the rebound effort though. Indeed, Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTS), Harley-Davidson Inc (NYSE:HOG) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) were all moving in the other direction today, at speed.

Here’s the deal.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC)

Swedish telecom giant Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson — you know it better as just Ericsson — unloaded some bad news on shareholders today, sending ERIC to a whopping loss of 16.7% for the session.

The bad news was the organization’s second-quarter results. Ericsson turned 50 billion kroner worth of sales into a profit of 17 kr per share. Problem: Analysts were looking for a profit of 33 kr per share of ERIC, And that was on an operating basis. On a GAAP basis, the company booked yet another loss, this one worth 1 billion kroner (about $120 million).

Things aren’t apt to get better anytime soon either. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson cautioned ERIC investors today that its cost-cutting efforts aren’t completed yet. They could last another twelve months. Some analysts are less-than-hopeful the effort will make a meaningful enough impact anytime soon.

Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG)

It shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise, in that Bernstein downgraded motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson a week ago, pointing out that demand for its bikes was waning. There’s just something about see the confirmation of the headwind in writing, though, to drive a point home. On Tuesday, HOG shares tanked on response to a disappointing Q2 report.

For the period ending in June, Harley-Davidson earned $1.48 per share on $1.58 billion in revenue. The bottom line rolled in better than the expected $1.38. Sales and profits were both down on a year-over-year basis though, and the top line missed analysts’ collective outlook.

Fanning the bearish flames that sent HOG lower to the tune of 5.8% on Tuesday was a warning from the company that the foreseeable future doesn’t look promising. Sales could fall as much as 8% for the full year.

Tile Shop Hldgs, Inc. (TTS)

Finally, although home-improvement retailer Tile Shop Holdings is usually an off-the-radar name few people ever pay attention to, today’s high-volume 25.9% beat-down certainly drew some attention to the small company.

Yes, it was yet-another disappointing second-quarter report that did the deed. Tile Shop earned 15 cents per share on sales of $89.5 million, missing estimates for a profit of 16 cents per share of TTS on $93 million worth of revenue. Both were better than year-earlier results, but with the stock up roughly 150% since its early 2015 low, investors were hoping for better.

CEO Chris Homeister commented on the second quarter numbers:

“Despite the topline shortfall, we were pleased to deliver solid growth in earnings per share in the quarter, generate significant free cash flow to reduce debt to the lowest level in five years and continue to successfully open new stores, with seven stores opened year to date and an additional seven to eight scheduled to open in the second half of the year.”

The market was anything but encouraged, however, keenly aware TTS shares are still trading at 39 times their trailing profits.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/07/why-harley-davidson-inc-hog-tile-shop-hldgs-inc-tts-and-telefonaktiebolaget-lm-ericsson-eric-are-3-of-todays-worst-stocks/.

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