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Shares of Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) are getting hammered this morning (down about -5.5%). The stock has been cut by Bear Stearns. The company’s earnings report was inline with expectations, and the guidance for this quarter was also inline. Still, the stock made fresh 52-week lows this morning.

Here’s a sample negative view from an analyst:

In a note to clients entitled "Q1 Could Have Been Better," UBS analyst Brian Nagel said costs weighed on the retailer.

"Given (same-store) sales growth at the upper end of plan we would have expected stronger earnings growth at Bed Bath & Beyond in the first quarter," Nagel said. "Recent expense pressures seem unique to Bed Bath & Beyond and are not indicative of higher costs in retail."

While net earnings had a slight gain, operating profits dipped to $148.8 million from $150.9 million. Costs escalated to $805.9 million from $723.6 million, led by a 19% rise in sales, general and administrative expenses.

Further, the company's cash assets were cut to nearly a third of their former levels a year ago.

Seeking Alpha has a transcript of the conference call.

The good news for us this morning is that Varian Medical (VAR) is up strongly on an analyst upgrade from Oppenheimer.

Posted by edelfenbein at June 22, 2006 10:45 AM