Coach Is a Holiday Bargain, Cowen’s Champine Says: Tom Keene

Coach Inc., the largest U.S. maker of luxury leather handbags, is likely to be a top-performing retailer this holiday season, according to Laura Champine, an analyst at Cowen & Co. “I would be buying Coach for the holidays,” Champine said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on “Surveillance Midday” with Tom Keene. “I think they’re going to do great with their new product line. We would stay away from Williams- Sonoma.” San-Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma Inc. is a gourmet- cookware retailer. Williams-Sonoma shares fell 43 cents to $33.47 after reaching a 52-week high of $36.82 on Nov. 5. Shoppers across the U.S. during today’s Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, started early to take advantage of deals as they face down a slower economic recovery than projected. Retailers view Black Friday -- so named because that’s when many stores become profitable -- as a bellwether for the entire holiday season. New York-based Coach’s shares fell 73 cents to $55.90 per share, after touching $56.94 yesterday, a 52-week high. Coach’s one-year total return is 58.1 percent. --with assistance from Chris Burrett in Greensboro, North Carolina. Editors: Paul Cox, Dave Liedtka