Lumber Liquidators May Have Lost Marketshare

New York, NY, July 22, 2011 -- Lumber Liquidators recently guided sales and earnings lower, which caused the stock to tumble.

Flooring industry analyst John Baugh of Stifel Nicolaus noted that the "unpleasant surprise" came just two weeks after his company upgraded the stock.

In light of the miss, Baugh wrote a long analysis of the state of affairs at Lumber Liquidators.

One conclusion he drew is that at least for the second quarter, Lumber Liquidators lost marketshare to the home centers.

Taking any longer time frame, however, the opposite is true, he said.

Baugh said that "Home Depot, and to a lesser degree, Lowe’s, have refocused their attention on the roughly 2.0- 2.5% sales category they call 'hard surface'," he wrote.

He also noted that Lumber Liquidators may slow down its pace of new store openings.