After 35 years, Michael Kors remains an incredibly profitable company. But slowing sales and margin compression have cut its stock in half since 2014.
A look at consensus estimates through 2019 shows that Wall Street holds little hope for renewed revenue growth or even stabilization of the declining margin trend.
CEO John Idol's remarks at a recent conference suggest investors have over-extrapolated current headwinds. Meanwhile, KORS shares rank among the cheapest of all consumer stocks in the S&P 500.
Michael Kors Holdings (NYSE:KORS) has recently been one of the most controversial and volatile stocks in the S&P 500 index's Consumer Discretionary sector. The 35-year-old Kors brand is a top-three global seller of fashion handbags and watches, and has a growing presence in men's and women's shoes and apparel. Kors enjoyed explosive growth in the first four years after its 2011 IPO. But sales and profits decelerated in the fiscal year ending March 2016, and KORS stock plunged by over 60% from its 2014 high to its $36 bottom in January. Then in May, shorts piled into the already-crowded bearish camp, fueled by blatantly misleading headlines implying the Kors brand was being discontinued at Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) stores.
The record has since been corrected regarding the Nordstrom relationship, and Kors beat consensus expectations for both sales and EPS in the March and June quarters. But the short position remains inflated, at over 10% of the share count (chart below). Meanwhile, brokerage analyst sentiment has collapsed, from 68% "buy" ratings in early 2014 to just 27% today.