Citigroup Radioshack Downgrade: Are You Kidding?

• ToddSullivan
• July 31st, 2007

Here is another one that just has me shaking my head. Citigroup analyst Bill Sims downgraded Radioshack (RSH) to “Sell” from “Hold” and said RadioShack’s wireless business remains pressured and is not likely to rebound soon because of declining market share and other factors. He said RadioShack is losing market share to direct channel retailers such as Sprint Nextel (N), Verizon (VZE), and Cingular (T).

“With the direct channel finding it more profitable to sell phones through their own stores than through RadioShack, they are increasingly opening stores next to Radio Shack with better merchandising, contracts, etc. and winning share as a result,” Sims wrote in a client note.

OK, all that is logical stuff and you can agree with it or not but the logic is there. Here were the head shaking comes in:

Sims cut his price target for the company from $32 to $20. How? How can you make am almost 40% reduction in your target price based on one earnings call that had, by the way the company swing from a 2 cent loss a year ago to a 34 cent gain and nothing announced that was not already really known? What is different about Radioshack today from yesterday or the day before? Nothing

This stuff mystifies me and is the reason these folks should be ignored when they talk stock prices.

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