I have officially been shut out of an analyst meeting for the first time in my 16-year career. Hey Carter's...there's this crazy little thing called Transparency. It matters, and I suggest you embrace it. Hedgeye is watching, and we see through the opacity of closed-door super-secret investor days.
"Sorry, the room is full." Really??? Are people really beating down the doors to hike up to Shelton CT in the middle of earnings season for the meeting? Also -- I worked in IR... No offense, but it was at a company 20x the size of Carter's. I've organized these events. There's no such thing as "no more room."
Can you believe that some companies still selectively pick who is invited to join the club?
If I were a real company with a real strategy and I firmly believed in both my strategic direction and earnings power (which is the case, by the way), I'd want to share MORE information with members of the investment community who are cautious on the story -- or flat-out short the stock. Guess what Carter's... when shorts cover it creates real demand for the stock.
Also, on that day when your stock crashes next year when people realize that the real underlying power is at least 25% below current expectations, or better yet -- if you proactively turn your fortunes around and prove me wrong -- don't you want one of the more influential voices on the Street to change along with the facts and get on board the stock? Do you think just MAYBE that institutions with meaningful buying power will pay particularly close attention? I suggest you ask them.
I'm willing to YouTube myself on all my analysis. Check it out below.
