== Five Below (FIVE): CEO Joel Anderson steps down to serve as CEO of Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF)

• Joel Anderson has stepped down from his roles of President and CEO, and from the Board of Directors.
• Co appoints COO Kenneth Bull as interim President and CEO.
• Thomas Vellios, Co-Founder, Non-Executive Chairman and former CEO, is assuming the role of Executive Chairman on an interim basis to support Mr. Bull and the executive leadership team in the transition while the Board conducts a comprehensive search for a permanent CEO.

 

Anderson joined Five Below as CEO in 2015. He led the company's U.S. expansion from 366 to over 1,500 stores and e-commerce site launch, optimized operations, expansion into new categories, and drove revenue growth from $500 million to more than $3.5 billion. 

Anderson previously served for three years as the president and CEO of Walmart.com, leading the business unit from 2011 to 2014. For four years before that, he was divisional senior VP of the Northern Plains division of Walmart stores.

Petco has been on the hunt for a new CEO since March, when Ron Coughlin, stepped down as chief executive, chairman and board member after a disappointing quarter. He had led Petco since June 2018.  

Upon Coughlin’s departure, board member and former longtime Best Buy executive R. Michael Mohan was tapped as interim CEO. Petco said that Mohan will transition from interim chief on July 29 to chair a new board committee focused on Petco's ongoing value creation initiatives, working with Anderson to ensure a smooth leadership transition and continued execution towards the company's objectives. 

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Petco operates more than 1,500 stores  across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, which offer merchandise, companion animals, grooming, training and a growing network of on-site veterinary hospitals and mobile veterinary clinics.

This week's biggest % winners & losers : Jan 9 - 13, 17 (wk 2)

The following are this week's top 20 percentage gainers and top 20 percentage losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

This week's top 20 % gainers

• Healthcare:ARIA (23.69 +72.42%),DXCM (85.13 +34.64%),WOOF (91.25 +28.94%),EXAS (19.04 +26.09%),SRPT (37.83 +25.76%),BKD (15.81 +24.68%),ARRY (10.87 +21.59%),EXEL (18.51 +20.82%), SGMO (4.4 +20.55%), CLVS (55.46 +20.49%),EVH (18.95 +19.18%),HQY (47.83 +18.22%)
• Materials:CENX (11.52 +28.29%),VALE (9.58 +19.9%),TCK (24.69 +17.4%)
• Industrials:SSW (11.47 +19.6%)
• Information Technology:BZUN (13.94 +19.35%)
• Energy:CCJ (13.29 +23.4%),SN (11.24 +21.78%)
• Consumer Staples:BETR (11.35 +18.85%)

This week's top 20 % losers

• Healthcare:AMAG (23 -35.57%),ENDP (13.19 -20.25%),HALO (11.39 -14.87%),ATRC (16.14 -14.74%),AGIO (41.55 -12.53%),ATRA (14.8 -11.9%),EBS (30.66 -11.54%),NVCR (7.1 -11.25%)
• Materials:RYI (11.3 -18.12%)
• Industrials:GRAM (4.8 -22.33%)
• Consumer Discretionary:VSTO (28.7 -24.63%),TRCO (29.58 -21.25%),SMRT (3.98 -11.75%),NLS (16.25 -11.2%)
• Energy:UNT (26.54 -12.26%),WMB (28.56 -11.91%),EPE (5.97 -11.82%),WFT (5.26 -11%),HLX (8.48 -10.92%)
• Consumer Staples:WDFC (102.85 -13.75%)

===VCA (WOOF) to be acquired by Mars Inc. for $93/share or $9.1 bln

 

VCA to be acquired by Mars Inc. for $93/share, or approximately $9.1 bln :

• Co announced that they have entered an agreement under which Mars will acquire all of the outstanding shares of VCA for $93 per share, or a total value of approximately $9.1 billion including $1.4 billion in outstanding debt. The transaction price represents a premium of ~41% over VCA's 30-day volume weighted average price on January 6, 2017.
• The company will remain headquartered in Los Angeles, California and will remain focused on its business model and strategic objectives.
• Expect the transaction to close in Q3 2017.

=VCA (WOOF) reported earnings on Wed 26 Oct 2016 (b/o)

VCA misses by $0.02, misses on revs; reaffirms FY16 guidance :

• Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.79 per share, excluding transaction expenses related to the acquisition of Companion Animal Practices, North America, and acquisition-related amortization expenses, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.81; revenues rose 19.1% year/year to $656.9 mln vs the $668.39 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co reaffirms guidance for FY16, sees EPS of $2.87-2.97, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $2.94 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 revs of $2.52-2.54 bln vs. $2.53 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• "We continue to experience healthy organic revenue growth and increasing gross margins in both our core Animal Hospital and Laboratory businesses. Given our results relative to our expectations and our future acquisition pipeline, we remain optimistic with respect to our results for the full year ended Dec 31, 2016."

WOOF — is it a buy?

• #58 on Feb. 11:  $49

2 months later: slow uptrend