American Woodmark shares fall after fiscal 1Q loss

American Woodmark shares fall following fiscal 1st-quarter loss, analyst downgrade

• On 1:00 pm EDT, Wednesday August 26, 2009

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Shares of American Woodmark Corp. fell Wednesday, a day after the kitchen cabinet maker posted a fiscal first-quarter loss.

Shares fell $1.20, or 5.2 percent, to $22.04 in afternoon trading. The stock has ranged from $12.99 to $32.42 over the past year.

For the quarter ended July 31, American Woodmark reported an adjusted loss of $4.8 million, or 34 cents per share. Sales tumbled 28 percent to $100.8 million from $139.2 million. The company cited double-digit sales declines for remodeling and new construction.

Baird analyst Peter Lisnic lowered his rating on the Winchester, Va.-based company to "Underperform" from "Neutral" and cut his price target to $19 from $24.

Consumers are under pressure and continue to avoid big-ticket discretionary spending, he said in a client note.

"While recent data suggests housing markets could be nearing a bottom, recovery is likely to be long and subdued in our opinion," he said.

American Woodmark is "executing well with earnings power likely structurally higher, but an improved demand environment and higher potential returns already appear amply discounted in the stock," he added.