Why Did Sears Holdings Corp. Shares Lose 61% in 2017?

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) has been in a downward spiral for over five years. The company has been losing money, closing stores, and selling assets in a desperate bid for survival.

What happened

Though the company has a turnaround plan, there are very few signs that it's working. CEO Edward Lampert would point to the fact that the company losses narrowed in Q3 -- from $748 million ($6.99 loss per diluted share) in Q3 2016 to $558 million ($5.19 loss per diluted share) in Q3 2017 -- but in reality the losses have shrunk in line with the company's overall decline.

Sears has lost over $1.6 billion in 2017 so far, following a $2.2 billion loss in 2016, and a $1.1 billion loss in 2015. It also has, as of the end of the quarter, total assets of $8.1 billion, down from $10.8 billion at the end of Q3 2016. Additionally, the struggling retailer has $12 billion in total liabilities, down from $14.2 billion a year ago.

The exterior of a Sears store.

Sears has been losing money and closing stores. Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Basically, Sears has done very little to convince anyone that it has begun to turn its fortunes around. Mostly, the company has shown that none of the changes it has made has resonated with customers.

There's very little, if anything, to be encouraged about and investors took note. After closing 2016 at $9.29 shares fell to $3.58 at the end of 2017, a 61% drop, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Now what

Sears has assets to sell and has put forth a plan to get through at least the next few months, but there are no guarantees it will work. At this point, it seems very clear that the company can put off the end, but that unless something changes, the end is inevitable.

The retailer has only survived this long because it has a portfolio of assets and real estate that it could sell. Most of those assets are gone and what's left may not be as easy to sell. Unless something changes, it's hard to see how Sears makes it to 2019.

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Daniel B. Kline has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.