Topic: How To Invest

Dear Pat: What is your opinion of Coach Inc.? Thanks!

Article Excerpt

Coach Inc., $51.79, symbol COH on New York (Shares outstanding: 298.7 million; Market cap: $15.6 billion; www.coach.com) designs and sells a wide range of accessories for men and women, including handbags, belts, wallets, card cases, shoes, luggage and jewellery. The company designs these products, but they are made by third-party manufacturers, mainly in Asia. Coach gets 87% of its sales by selling goods through three main channels: the Internet, catalogues, and its 723 company-owned retail stores and factory outlets in North America, Japan and China. The company gets the remaining 13% of its sales by selling goods in department stores, and by licensing its brand to makers of other products, such as sunglasses, watches and perfumes. In its 2011 fiscal year, which ended July 2, 2011, Coach earned $880.8 million. That’s up 19.8% from $734.9 million in fiscal 2010. The company spent $1.0 billion on share buybacks during the year. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 25.3%, to $2.92…