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Sears Profit Doesn't Stop Stock From Falling
Eddie Lampert, chairman of both Sears Holdings and Seritage Growth Properties
Even as Sears posted its first quarterly profit since Eddie Lampert took over as CEO in 2013, stock plummeted by 10%. Sears announced a profit between $155M and $205M for the quarter ending Aug. 1, but same store sales fell by 10.6% while same sales at Sears' domestic outlets dropped 13.9%. Much of the reported profit came from Lampert's deal to sell and lease back 254 Sears and Kmart stores to Seritage Growth Properties, a REIT formed by Lampert, according to Forbes. A class-action lawsuit filed by a Sears shareholder alleges the $2.5B deal mainly benefits Lampert. So far this year, Sears stock is down 35%. [Forbes]
