Bed Bad & Beyond shares lose 30% in one day

Bed Bath & Beyond said Thursday it is exploring options, including filing for bankruptcy, to deal with declining sales, dwindling cash and the debt burden at the US home goods retailer, making it their shares fall sharply.

The retailer, in a regulatory filing, said there were substantial doubts about its ability to continue as a business, adding that it was exploring strategic alternatives, including restructuring or refinancing debt or seeking bankruptcy protection.

Bed Bath & Beyond said it expects to report a third-quarter loss of $385.5 million after sales fell 33 percent.

Shares of the company plunged 29.88% to $1.69 on the NASDAQ after the news broke.

Bed Bath & Beyond’s fortunes turned and its shares lost after it pursued a strategy focused on private label products. Since then, the retailer’s management has backtracked and has set out to incorporate national brands.

The conversion plan launched last year is not working. (…) Put bluntly, the business is moving fast in the wrong direction, with bankruptcy the most likely fate,” said Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData.

The company became a stock meme last year, when its shares soared more than 400 percent.

Activist investor Ryan Cohen, president of GameStop, bought a stake in Bed Bath & Beyond, which he later sold, sending the shares tumbling.

“Our financial results were negatively impacted by inventory constraints as we partner with our suppliers to overcome micro and macro economic challenges,” said Sue Gove, CEO.

The company will present its results for the third quarter, which ended on November 26, on Tuesday.

Sources said talks about a Chapter 11 filing could continue into February.