Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE:LIZ) might live to fight another day, but it’s going to do so without … well, Liz Claiborne.
The fashion retailer dropped a bomb Wednesday when it announced it would be selling off several brands — including the Liz Claiborne name itself — to turn around a struggling business that had seen annual revenue slashed from 2006 through 2010. The stock saw its first sign of aggressive life in more than a month, jumping 34% to end the day at $6.84 and regaining almost all of the 25% loss LIZ suffered during the past 12 months.
Liz Claiborne Inc. will retain such high-end brands as Juicy Couture, which sells everything from dresses to sleepwear to jewelry; Lucky Brand, known for its $100 jeans; and kate spade, which sells luxury handbags among other fashionable clothing and accessories.
Also making headway toward prices from better times was LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), the professional social media site that publicly offered in May. LNKD gained almost 10% on Wednesday a day after the company acquired enterprise search engine IndexTank — which was less than a week removed from its purchase of software maker Connected.
LinkedIn — which is becoming increasingly attractive to Indian workers — finished the day at $82.36. The company hasn’t ended a trading day that high in almost a month, but LNKD shares still are about 12% shy of their IPO value.
Three Up
- Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S): Up 7.98% (19 cents) to $2.57.
- Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL): Up 6.62% ($1.56) to $25.12.
- Melco Crown Entertainment (NASDAQ:MPEL): Up 6.49% (67 cents) to $11.
Three Down
- Buckle (NYSE:BKE): Down 9.04% ($4.08) to $41.06.
- Western Digital Corp. (NYSE:WDC): Down 4.61% ($1.33) to $27.55.
- Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA): Down 2.43% (25 cents) to $10.05.
As of this writing, Kyle Woodley did not own a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.
