Retail Losers: Rite Aid, Bed Bath & Beyond

Retail stocks prove they are not immune to the housing market, as shares in the sector fall in the wake of this morning's existing-home sales report.

Author:: Jeanine Poggi
Publish date:: Sep 24, 2009 4:27 PM EDT

(Stock prices updated.

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- Retailers are feeling the pain of the housing market.

Worse-than-expected existing home sales sent shares of retailers in the red Thursday afternoon. The S&P Retail Index dropped 1% to 377.88, led down by

Rite Aid

(RAD) - Get Report

and

AnnTaylor Stores

(ANN)

Shares of Rite Aid plunged 12% to close at $1.71, after

the drugstore said it expects a bigger loss for the year

. After reporting a loss of $116 million, or 14 cents a share, management says it now expects a full-year loss between 48 cents and 74 cents a share.

AnnTaylor sank 4% to $15.56 after Goldman Sachs removed the women's retailer from its buy list.

Buy Ann Taylor!: Against the Grain

"While we see potential upside to consensus expectations due to more brand-appropriate product and improvements to inventory/merchandise flow, shares have almost doubled since two months ago and, as with any turnaround, risks still remain," analyst Michelle Tan wrote in a note to clients. She now rates the company neutral.

Other women's retailers also fell.

Talbots

(TLB)

declined nearly 2% to end the day at $8.73,

Coldwater Creek

(CWTR)

tanked 3% to $8.01,

Chico's FAS

(CHS) - Get Report

fell 3.5% to $12.72 and

New York & Company

(NWY)

was off 3% to close at $5.31.

Bed Bath & Beyond

(BBBY) - Get Report

also gave up yesterday's gains after it was downgraded by an analyst at Credit Suisse.

Analyst Gary Balter of Credit Suisse said the downgrade had nothing to do with either earnings or management; he says he simply can't justify the stock price.

The retailer released better-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Wednesday as it cut costs and saw improving sales trends.

Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond stumbled 3% to close at $37.75.

On of the only retailers in the green was

Buckle

(BKE) - Get Report

, which closed up 3% to $31.54. The denim retailer announced earlier this week a special one-time dividend of $1.80 a share on top of its regular quarterly dividend.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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