Bed Bath & Beyond (OTCMKTS:BBBYQ) has earned the infamous “Q” on the end of its ticker. Despite that though, it hasn’t stopped the stock from trending, with BBBYQ stock up about 6% on the day.
The failure of this retailer should not have caught investors off guard.
Short of a few pops here and there, shares of Bed Bath & Beyond performed terribly throughout 2023. However, retail investors can’t seem to take their eyes off this name. Maybe it’s because of the short-squeeze trades. Perhaps it’s from the “meme stock” situation that played out after the Covid-19 decline.
Now, the company is beginning the process of auctioning the leases for Bed Bath & Beyond and Buy Buy Baby locations. The company’s “real estate advisor A&G Real Estate Partners plans to auction hundreds of the home goods retailer and buybuy BABY’s leases as part of the company’s Chapter 11.”
According to A&G, the locations are at “well-located shopping centers across the country” and the “landlords are among the likeliest bidders for these leases.” The firm commented, “They’re looking forward to getting vacant spaces back, either to backfill them with single large-format tenants or subdivide them and re-lease them to multiple, smaller operators.”
What to Make of BBBYQ Stock
Auctioning off its locations and leases is simply part of the bankruptcy procedure. So while it may move the value of BBBYQ stock, there just doesn’t seem to be much here.
The firm is bankrupt, and the stock has already moved to over-the-counter trading. Why investors keep an interest in this name when there are plenty of other better opportunities out there isn’t clear.
Even before the bankruptcy filing, Bed Bath & Beyond made it pretty clear to investors that it was in dire straits. The company was trying for a last-ditch deal to try to save the business, and even that was a long shot.
Bed Bath & Beyond said, “If we do not receive the proceeds from the offering of securities covered by this prospectus supplement, we expect that we will likely file for bankruptcy protection.”
Ultimately, it didn’t work, and here we are.
The big winners from this? The short-sellers. For investors that want to pick over the scraps in a speculative manner, I suppose that’s one option. But for the most part, most investors would be better off moving on from BBBYQ stock.
On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
