John Zolidis

Veteran analyst John Zolidis of Quo Vadis Capital argues that transactions might have dropped 5.4%, based on his calculations, a number arrived at by modeling transactions as the difference between the price and sales increases. Zolidis, who has a Sell rating on the stock, wasn’t the only analyst raising questions about the impact of price increases on traffic. BMO analyst Andrew Strelzik, who rates the stock a Hold, noted that “[questions] about value proposition gain steam as traffic declines accelerate. Still, 72% of the 36 analysts tracked by FactSet rate the stock as Buy or equivalent.

Quo Vadis Capital President Zolidis was among the few equity analysts, who sounded the alarm on Luckin Coffee’s accounting problems early on, and he remained bearish while the company was under bankruptcy.

But he turned bullish after the company emerged from bankruptcy in April of 2022 and continues to be. Most notably, Zolidis thinks that the new company that emerged from bankruptcy early this year is a different company in many respects. First, it is almost free of debt, after redeeming $110M of 9% debt securities. “It’s a rare situation for a company that emerged for bankruptcy recently,” he told International Business Times in an email. “In addition, it’s a good indication that management feels confident about the company’s financials in the future.”

“Ms. Dillon is a leader with a strong voice and will represent a meaningful change in tone for Foot Locker. We think the ripples within the organization could be very positive,” John Zolidis, president and founder of Quo Vadis Capital, said in emailed comments. “We also believe communication to investors will be upgraded based on the significant credibility she will bring to crafting a strategy and establishing an outlook. In short, this is very good news.”