Retail Losers: Walgreen, Lowe's, Polo

Retailers are trading lower
By Jeanine Poggi ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- Retailers are in the red Wednesday, on the back of a key figure for service businesses falling short of expectations.

The S&P Retail Index is sinking 0.7% to 401.24, pulled down by one of the day's biggest decliners,

Polo Ralph Lauren

(RL) - Get Report

.

Polo is losing 8.5% to $78.36 in afternoon trading, after it warned its

Asian investments will suppress future earnings

.

While the upscale apparel retailer posted better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, it said its Asian operations would hurt profit by 8 cents to 10 cents a share in the fourth quarter.

Walgreen

(WAG)

is tumbling 6.8% to $34.28, after reporting an unexpected decline in January same-store sales. The drugstore reported a

1.1% drop in sales for stores opened at least a year

, with both its pharmacy business and front-end weak.

Rival

CVS Caremark

(CVS) - Get Report

, is also off 3% to $32.38 after Goldman Sachs removed the company from its buy list, as its shares recover from their November lows. The brokerage firm still has a positive rating on the stock.

Shares of CVS lost 20% on Nov. 5 when it reported that it lost billions of dollars worth of contracts. Since then, however, it has regained most of its losses.

Lowe's

(LOW) - Get Report

is also trading lower after

Goldman Sachs downgraded the company to neutral

from buy. The brokerage firm said while the home improvement sector is improving, it would bet on

Home Depot

(HD) - Get Report

over Lowe's.

Shares of Lowe's are falling 2.7% to $21.97, while Home Depot is declining 2.3% to $28.37 in afternoon trading.

Other notable losers include

Talbots

(TLB)

, which is tanking 7.5% to $11.74,

Zale

(ZLC)

, which is shedding 6.2% to $2.27 and

Abercrombie & Fitch

(ANF) - Get Report

, which is declining 2.8% to $31.70.

But there were several winners, mixed in with the losers.

Borders

(BGP)

tops the New York Stock Exchange's list of biggest advancers, soaring 42.6% to $1.34 in afternoon trading. The book retailer received the boost after investor

Bill Ackman

said he is

bullish on the company

during Tuesday evening's "Mad Money" segment on CNBC.

Ackman says Borders is a better bet than rival

Barnes & Noble

(BKS) - Get Report

, and doesn't see the company filing for bankruptcy.

Wal-Mart

(WMT) - Get Report

, meanwhile, is gaining 1.8% to $54.44 after it was

upgraded to buy from hold by Stifel Nicolaus

.

Analyst David Schick said the discounter could see more cooperation in building stores in big cities. It is also expected to continue to benefit from shoppers looking for lower prices on basic household items.

Wal-Mart also announced on Wednesday that it plans to cut 300 jobs from its Arkansas headquarters in an effort to save money and become more efficient.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.

RELATED STORIES:

>>8 Retail Stocks to Watch: January Sales

>>Polo Plunges on Asia Warning

>>Walgreen Sales Drag Down Drugstores

>>Goldman Sachs: Home Depot Tops Lowe's

>>Borders Spikes on Ackman's Bullish Call

>>Wal-Mart Poised to Outperform: Analyst

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