Bed Bath & Beyond sells $300 million in stocks, shares drop 15%

Bed Bath & Beyond has announced plans to sell up to $300 million in common stock through an “at-the-market” program with investment bank B. Riley in its latest bid to stave off bankruptcy. The struggling retailer’s shares fell by more than 15% to an all-time low of 68 cents, continuing a downward slide. The company warned in an SEC filing it might need to file for bankruptcy protection if it does not receive proceeds from its program, in which case shareholders “will likely receive no recovery at all for the securities offered.” Company President and CEO Sue Grove said the move will “enable us to create the necessary financial runway to begin restoring our iconic Bed Bath & Beyond.” It comes just over a week after the company cut 1,300 employees, including 572 from a New Jersey e-commerce facility and another 377 at its Union, New Jersey, headquarters. Bed Bath & Beyond has avoided filing for bankruptcy, though its stocks have plummeted since its all-time high of $79.32 in December 2013, with the company announcing multiple rounds of mass layoffs and store closures since then. Its sales continued to decline throughout the pandemic, with sales dropping by 17% in 2020 and 15% in 2021. The company’s financial woes started before the onset of the pandemic, as customers increasingly turned away from brick-and-mortar retailers to one-stop online retailers. Co-founder Warren Eisenberg admitted the company was slow to adapt to e-commerce, telling the Wall Street Journal the company “missed the boat on the internet.”