Hanesbrands Inc. (0J2X.L)

An apparel company making a comeback
Hanesbrands was able to offset tumbling sales of innerwear and activewear during the worst of the pandemic in 2020 by spinning up a personal protective equipment business. The company depends heavily on brick-and-mortar retailers, so pandemic restrictions and consumers' shifting to e-commerce did Hanesbrands no favors.
Things are now starting to look up for the apparel manufacturer, and the stock market has taken notice. The stock surged nearly 25% last Tuesday in reaction to a fourth-quarter report that checked all the boxes. U.S. innerwear sales soared 13% excluding PPE, and activewear sales were up 7% excluding the impact of business exits.
Notably, Hanesbrands no longer sees PPE as a long-term growth opportunity. Instead, the company will focus on growing its thriving Champion brand, going after younger consumers, simplifying its portfolio of products, and building out a bigger e-commerce business.
Hanesbrands stock has been trending downward for the past five years or so, and it would still need to rise another 50% to come close to its all-time high. The new strategy could deliver those gains, especially considering the beaten-down valuation. With analysts expecting adjusted earnings per share of $1.60 this year, Hanesbrands stock trades for just 11.5 times earnings.
If Hanesbrands can successfully grow earnings and convince investors that there's a real long-term growth story, the stock could easily deliver market-beating returns. Now's the time to invest in this value stock on the rise.0

As an investor in Hanes (for the past decade) these are my personal opinions. After listening to the conference call each quarter for the past 10-12 quarters, unfortunately it seems the company is stale. Every quarterly conference call is the same with the same comments regarding the overall business results.

"We are very pleased with our results".
"1-3% growth".
"Were well on our way to our achieving our annual goals"
"Inner-wear sales continue to be soft as we planned"
"Active-wear sales continue to outperform our expectations minus C9".
"Currency Headwinds"
Challenging retail environment"
"On pace to pay down debt"
"On pace to achieve our mid to upper level guidance"
"Input/raw material cost challenges"
"Inventory challenges"

While all this may be true (and some of it good) every quarter for the past 3 years, their does not seem to be an exciting vision with innovating product/plans to generate investor value or create excitement to drive investors to purchase more stock. There are many companies facing similar challenges however some of them are continuously changing and adapting in an attempt to say ahead of the competition and to increase shareholder value.

Hanes has many well known great brands. Brand names carry a lot of weight however many of today's consumers are more quality, service and price conscious then they have been in the past. This type of consumer environment requires companies to innovate, adapt, and change in order to continuously achieve improving results and stay ahead of the competition weather it be brand or private label.

Quarterly results continue to be "ok" but nothing to get excited about which results in the share price continuously declining. Lower Highs and lower lows.

Unfortunately the stock is down over 50% the past 3 years while the stock market is up 50% over the same time period. The company has a good dividend yield but unfortunately that is the only excitement for shareholders over the past 3 years. A 3.5% - 5% dividend yield is good but gets lost when the share price is declining 10-20% per year.

Favorite quote: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different result. Strategic creativity, product innovation, marketing, and change are needed to improve results increasing shareholder excitement to drive the share price. As we have seen the past couple years, Champions explosive growth by its self is not increasing share price and getting investors excited. It will take other business segment to contribute substantial growth as well as Champion. Today's price decline could partially be contributed to the market being down 280 points however if investors were impressed with the results today then most likely the stock would not be down 6.5% today. Hopefully some short term investors were exiting today and the next few weeks will see an upside. There should be somewhat of an upside due to the dividend in the next couple weeks.

Moving forward it appears there needs to be additional changes and improved overall performance from other business segments for the stock price to reverse the down trend. As a decade long investor, it would be good to see some changes and improved performance for all investors. Hanes did it from 2010 - 2016 and it would be great to see it again.

3. Hanesbrands
Socks and underwear are famous for eliciting groans when given as holiday gifts, but Hanesbrands stock has the potential to bring joy in the holiday season and beyond. The socks and underwear business admittedly looks pretty dull in an age where high-growth cloud software stocks are the market darlings of the day, but the company's Champion clothing brand is putting up strong performance and remains an underappreciated performance driver, and shares looks cheaply valued.

The stock stands out as an attractive buy because it offers both defensive potential and the opportunity to deliver market-crushing returns. Major indexes now trade at all-time highs, while Hanesbrands stock has lost roughly 6% year to date despite proving remarkably resilient amid this year's unprecedented conditions.

Sales and earnings in Q3 actually came in significantly ahead of the market's targets, but management guided for softer performance in Q4 and indicated that it might shift support away from some of its underperforming brands. The market overreacted to the guidance, and investors have an opportunity to buy shares at an appealing discount.

Hanesbrands is now valued at less than three quarters of this year's expected sales and trades at about 10 times this year's expected earnings. The stock also pays a dividend yielding roughly 4.3% and the company looks to be in good position to maintain its payout even as management mulls pivoting away from some aging brands. With its depressed valuation, hefty dividend yield, and big rebound potential, Hanesbrands is an overlooked stock that could elevate your portfolio.

HBI has almost 20% of its shares shorted. I think the price will go down a little while longer maybe to 13 to l et the shorts cover and then will head up to 18.

Yes they are losing Target as a customer but they have other areas of revenue that are making up for that loss. Their online sales are growing at substantial pace. They are continuing to expand their market internationally.

One of the concerns would be if other big box stores follow target and produce their own brand underwear.

The Dividend is safe and they will continue to pay down debt.

I am long and will add to my position with anything under 13

Good luck

This was the most informative conference call I have listened to from Hanes in 13 years. Listening to the conference call, in my opinion, they made the correct decision to hire Steve Bratspries. I would encourage you to listen to the conference call or read the transcript when it becomes available. He provided detailed information regarding the "Full Potential Plan," It's obvious he has experience in operation efficiency, productivity, and brand management.

He was very impressive in providing details on the future strategic plan which included reducing poor-performing SKU's, supply chain efficiency, improving product mix, marketing to the younger generation, and focusing on consumer wants and needs. It is obvious; he understands marketing and brand management. Hanes has many iconic brands, but it has to be what the consumer wants, at the right price, at the right time, when the consumer wants it which will be part of his strategy.

It appears he is action-orientated verse talking the talk. He has brought in new talent to assist in executing strategy. They have formed 20 teams to focus on 20 strategic initiatives to fuel future growth through a cost-saving self-funded growth. He provided more details on the current business status and future growth strategies. He stated Hanes will provide additional detailed information regarding the strategic plan at the May investors conference. I'm looking forward to additional details! Good Luck!