Things Are Looking Grim for Bed Bath & Beyond

On Tuesday, Bed Bath & Beyond released results that confirmed what it had warned of the week prior, and what it had warned wasn't good. The retailer last week cautioned that it may need to file for bankruptcy protection, and on Tuesday it announced that net sales were down 33% for the quarter to $1.26 billion, a drop from $1.88 billion a year prior. Sales at stores open at least a year, "a key gauge of a retailer’s health," per the AP, fell 32%. More:

• As for the why, at CNN, Nathaniel Meyersohn offers this: "Sales plunged in large part because Bed Bath & Beyond did not have enough stuff on shelves from suppliers. The company has been revamping its merchandise and eliminating some of its private brands in favor of name brands."
• CEO Sue Gove's comments back that up: "Although we moved quickly and effectively to change the assortment and other merchandising and marketing strategies, inventory was constrained and we did not achieve our goals."
• The retailer is also burning through its cash. It finished the quarter ending Nov. 26 with $153 million in cash and cash equivalents; a year ago it had $509 million on hand.
• The company announced plans to cut another $80 million to $100 million, after having already moved ahead with $500 million in cost savings, per the Wall Street Journal. CNBC obtained a memo sent to staff Tuesday that confirmed layoffs would occur "across our corporate, supply chain and store portfolio."
• Axios reports the company released an updated list of planned Bed Bath & Beyond closures; 56 had already been announced and 62 are new. Employees at select stores on the list indicated to Axios the closures would happen in March.
• Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, offered a grim assessment to the AP: "A third of revenue has vanished, plunging an already beleaguered company into the depths of chaos. In our view, Bed Bath & Beyond has completely lost control and is in a tailspin; and with the ground fast approaching, survival now looks unlikely."
• Shares closed up 45 cents, or almost 28%, at $2.07.

(More Bed Bath & Beyond stories.)