MARKET SAVVY : Savvy Confidential: A Briefing for Investors : Turnaround Lifts Lands’ End Stock

Shares of Lands’ End Inc., the No. 5 catalog retailer, rose to a record high Thursday on investor enthusiasm about the company’s turnaround and rising Internet sales.

The stock gained $1.69 to close at $58.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, continuing an ascent started after the company reported better-than-expected earnings Aug. 12. Lands’ End said it knew of no reason for the gain.

The Dodgeville, Wis.-based company launched a turnaround last year when David Dyer, its former vice chairman, returned as chief executive after a four-year absence. Dyer and his management team cut inventory and reversed merchandising mistakes related to the company’s Lands’ End and Coming Home catalogs. The effort has been aided by surging Internet sales, which increased about 150% in the company’s fiscal second quarter compared with a year earlier.

“Electronic retailing is providing sizzle for the story, while the fundamental changes in the company’s merchandising and marketing are even more promising for profits,” said Bernard Sosnick, an analyst with JW Genesis Capital Markets who has a “buy” rating on the stock.

The stock’s brisk rise has been accompanied by selling among several insiders, and some analysts are reviewing how much further it can go. Kelly Armstrong of First Union Capital Markets downgraded the stock to “outperform” from “buy” Thursday.

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Fashionable Stock

Lands’ End shares, up 184% in the last 12 months, powered to a record high Thursday. Monthly closes since September 1998 and latest:

Thursday: $58.75, up $1.69

Source: Bridge Information System