Sears Holdings CorporationSHLD

Morningstar Rating

Stock Research and Analysis

by Kimberly Picciola

The difficult retail environment is taking its toll on Sears Holdings, given its weak competitive position and its product mix, which includes a sizable portion of home-related products. We think both Kmart and Sears are going to struggle more than Read more

Bulls Say

Sears' efforts to showcase Lands' End goods in its stores has resulted in improvements in the brand's performance.

Sears Holdings has some of the most recognizable brands, including Kenmore, Craftsman, and Lands' End.

Sears' brands have moved off the mall and into former Kmart stores. The company is also considering selling some of its brands in other retail locations.

Lampert has a solid record of generating long-term wealth for shareholders. Although his long-term intentions for this retailer are unclear, it's hard to discount his past performance.

Lampert is not afraid to shake up the management team. Read more

Bears Say

A challenging macroeconomic environment is pinching consumers' wallets, which in turn weighs on Sears' and Kmart's results.

Sales have declined in recent years as competitors have expanded and taken market share from both Sears and Kmart.

The company's off-mall strategy under the Sears Essentials nameplate hasn't worked.

The company has greater exposure to the ongoing weakness in the housing market than some of its peers, given that it sells big-ticket, home-related goods like appliances.

Lampert's long-term vision for the company remains unclear. Read more

Strategy

Sears Holdings has realigned the organization into five separate business units: operating, support, online, real estate, and brands. The company is reassessing the distribution of its proprietary brands, Read more

Management

Chairman Edward Lampert is running the show. He is also chairman of ESL Investments, a hedge fund that owns 54.1% of Sears Holdings' stock as of Jan. 31, 2009. Given Lampert's solid long-term investment record at his hedge fund, the board has granted Read more

Profile

Sears Holdings is the fourth-largest broadline retailer in the United States. It operates around 3,900 full-line and specialty stores in the U.S. and Canada, both in malls Read more

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