Out Fox The $treet

Anybody following Fifth & Pacific ( NYSE: FNP     ) knows the stock trades based on the prospects of the fast-growing Kate Spade brand. Not surprisingly, the company recently unloaded the Juicy Couture brand to focus on further growing Kate Spade. The deal was for what appears to be a sizable discount, and Lucky Brands could be next. Will this streamlining of Fifth & Pacific into solely Kate Spade provide more value, or did management sell Juicy at a pittance to the detriment of long-term shareholders? Back in 2012, the three brands had roughly equal sales, but the success of Kate Spade offered greater potential. Also, the recent success and valuation of Michael Kors ( NYSE: KORS     ) and the past success of Coach ( NYSE: COH     ) encouraged a focus on Kate Spade. At the same time, though, both Juicy Couture and Lucky Brands provided the potential for major turnarounds. Unfortunately, as 2013 has progressed, the secondary br...

After previously writing about Fifth & Pacific Companies (NYSE: FNP ) when the stock was trading around $14, the recent jump to the $19 level is worth reviewing. The stock has been on a steady rise as brand kate spade registered 27% comp sales growth in Q4 and rumors spread that the company was looking to sell positions in the lagging brands. The former Liz Claiborne is probably even less known having more » Disclosure: Long FNP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Editors Choice Most investors probably haven’t noticed the strong growth of the kate spade brand since it’s been wrapped up as a small component in Fifth & Pacific  (NYSE: FNP ) . As the brand continues to grow at dizzying comps, it has quickly become a bigger catalyst for the company as a whole. The former Liz Claiborne is probably even less known having changed names to Fifth & Pacific back in 2012. After more » Disclosure: Long FNP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

After the close on Monday, Fifth & Pacific Companies, Inc (FNP) warned that earnings would not meet expectations due to weakness with the Juicy Couture brand. With the stock trading down nearly 12%, the market is missing the surging results at kate spade. The company designs and markets a portfolio of retail-based, premium, global lifestyle brands including Juicy Couture, kate spade, and Lucky Brand. In addition, the Adelington Design Group markets private brand jewelry and the company licenses the Liz Claiborne New York brand. It also owns 18.75% of Mexx. While the other divisions continue hitting on all cylinders, the Juicy Couture brand continues to struggle. Management had expected Juicy to turn around by the 2H of 2012, but the rewarding turnarounds at kate spade and Lucky Brand also took longer than originally expected. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long FNP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Liz Claiborne (LIZ) stock has rallied back 3.5% today from the warning after the close on Monday that led to a 13% drop yesterday. See our note from 2 days ago. Apparently at the ICR XCHANGE conference today, CEO presented some bullish 2012 comps news on the 3 brands. See below. He also reiterated that the majority of any decline in EBITDA expectations were due to a reduction in the expected cost cuts reached in 2012. kate spade:        10%+ Lucky Brands:  10% Juicy Couture:     5% Anybody following LIZ should browse through the presentation on the website. It provides some good summaries and expectations for the global expansion of the 3 brands. LIZ is almost like a biotech firm with 3 promising drugs that just got FDA approval. That's the feeling one gets when reading about these brands potential and how they were all held back with the restructuring in LIZ over the last 3-4 years. Each brand has the potential ...

Liz Claiborne (LIZ) surged 9% today on news that its new name would be Fifth & Pacific and trade under the symbol FNP beginning May 15, 2012. Wow, guess the problem all along was a name associated with an old business line. Guess people really liked the new name. My wife seemed to think it sounded like a hip California concept. She sure knows fashion better than me. "While it's difficult to replace an iconic name like Liz Claiborne, we believe that Fifth & Pacific Companies telegraphs who we are today – taking inspiration from New York and California , while describing our reach and our potential. From New York to Los Angeles to Shanghai and beyond, our intrinsically American brands have global appeal, serving customers worldwide with high quality and imaginative product," said Liz Claiborne Inc. Chief Executive Officer William L. McComb . The move was even more bizarre given that it was a known event in the works. [Read: Liz Claiborne Tran...