5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: March 15

5. Skullcandy's Target Practice

Could the Wall Street analysts tracking headphone seller Skullcandy (SKUL) be any less plugged-in?

Skullcandy shareholders got their heads handed to them last Friday after the company reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter sales, but said it expects a sizable first-quarter loss due to expansion-related expenses and the loss of bankrupt British music retailer HMV as a major customer. Skullcandy said it now sees a loss of 25 to 30 cents per share in the first quarter and a 30% drop in year-over-year revenue, which translates to around $37 million in sales. Shares closed down 22.5% to $5.21 on the news.

In case you were wondering, analysts on average penciled in a tidy quarterly profit of 5 cents a share for the company in Q1 on revenue of $59.8 million.

Talk about tone deaf! Were any of these jokers listening to the company at all? Because when the music stopped and the stock dropped there was not a chair to be found, just a bunch of useless, after-the-fact downgrades.

Investment bank Craig-Hallum cracked SKUL from buy to hold, reducing its price target to $8 from $15. Northland Capital halved its price outlook to $6 from $12.

Not to be outdone, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch slashed its target to $4.50 from $12 a share. And finally Piper Jaffray sliced its forecast to $4 from $7.

They may not want to hear it, but Skullcandy's analysts clearly need more target practice. The only thing they are hitting squarely right now -- aside from their own credibility -- is their client's pocketbooks.

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