Joseph A. Banks – Another Quarter, Same Great Story

Jos A. Bank (JOSB) reported decent numbers yesterday: sales grew 10%. It's not a blow out number but a respectable number for this environment.

Joseph A. Banks – Another Quarter_ Same Great Story

Jos A. Bank (JOSB) reported decent numbers yesterday: sales grew 10%. It’s not a blow out number but a respectable number for this environment. Profit margins have expanded as corporate expenses are leveraged across a larger store base, driving earnings growth to 27%.

At some point its advertising expenses will start declining as percent of sales and margins should go up further. At today’s incredibly cheap valuation of 10x 2007 earnings, all the company had to do is be able to fog a mirror – they did a lot more than that. It seems that this performance has legs as same store sales in November came in at 15%.

I wrote several articles in the past, little have changed since. Well, except earnings are up in 30-40%, inventory is not a concern anymore and stock price is back to where it was then.

Please read the following important disclosure here.

New to investing?

Explore these valuable guides to get started.

Related Articles

Your Sophist Filter On CEOs, Cynics, and the Voice in Your Head

Your Sophist Filter: On CEOs, Cynics, and the Voice in Your Head

A great speaker can bend logic with emotions and exert undue influence on your decision making. The better someone speaks, the more discriminating your Sophist filter needs to be.
Depressing Reasons Why I Am Bullish On Gold

Depressing Reasons Why I Am Bullish On Gold (part 2)

Here is what changed my mind. Not something about gold, but many things about the dollar. The US dollar is the world's reserve currency. It has had a well-deserved place since WWII, and that rested on three things: the largest, steadiest, most diverse economy; a politically stable democracy; the best military.
Narrative Change

Narrative Change (part 1)

Narrative change is a reversal of mass behavior. Economics and stock market valuation are governed by soft laws, but the reality bent by human behavior can disagree with these soft laws for much longer than rational actors would expect, or stay solvent. The change, going from euphoria to despair, is a change in narrative.
Todays Market = 1999 Capex + 2008 Credit

Today’s Market = 1999 Capex + 2008 Credit

I wrote in the past that the AI rollout feels a lot like déjà vu of the 1999 telecom bubble. Today's AI bubble has elements of both the 1999 overinvestment in internet infrastructure and the 2008 collapse of financial instruments that infected the banking and financial system.

Leave a Comment