Biz media gets it right with Ann Taylor

TheStreet.com media critic Marek Fuchs writes Monday that the coverage of Ann Taylor’s earnings on Friday were on the mark by ignoring the EPS and the full-year outlook — what the company wanted to play up — and instead focusing on how net income and revenue fell.

Fuchs writes, “These instant analysis articles from business media outlets are the most prone to parroting the corporate line on earnings, setting the tone for the more-expansive coverage to come. But in this case, MarketWatch did not automatically take EPS to be the most important measurement of AnnTaylor’s health, or lack thereof. Look at MarketWatch‘s brilliantly independent little lead:Â

AnnTaylor Stores Corp. said Friday that its second-quarter profit fell to $29.3 million from $31.7 million a year earlier. The per-share number rose to 51 cents a share from 50 cents a year earlier because of a decline in the number of shares outstanding. Sales dropped to $592.3 million from $614.5 million.

“Got that? Profits were down, and sales were down — even if EPS were up because of fewer shares outstanding. That is not to say that EPS should be ignored — and they weren’t here. It’s just that to understand the fundamental condition of AnnTaylor, you should know about the overall profit and sales decline first, even if management wants you to eyeball EPS before all else.”

Read more here.