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Bear of the Day: 1-800 Flowers (FLWS)

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Short-sellers along with speculative traders looking to profit from a short squeeze may be watching 1-800-Flowers (FLWS - Free Report)  stock, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

The specialty e-commerce provider has seen its stock plummet more than 40% in 2025 and has re-entered penny stock status at around $5 a share.

Unfortunately, those on the short squeeze side may be early as FLWS could be headed lower given 1-800 Flowers' diminishing outlook despite being known for its online niche in floral products and gifts.

 

High Short Interest for FLWS

Reflecting pessimism for 1-800 Flowers stock, the short interest in FLWS is above 50% as more than half of publicly traded shares are being borrowed and sold by investors who expect the stock price to decline.

Free-falling from a 52-week high of $9 a share, the technical analysis for FLWS reflects a very bearish outlook with limited short-term support levels. To that point, the 50-Day  simple moving average (Green Line) for FLWS has been bearishly below its 200-Day SMA (Red Line) since Q3 of last year, with both support levels currently under $6 a share.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

Increased Direct & Indirect Competitors

As a brief synopsis, specialty retail headwinds have added to 1-800 Flowers' deteriorating financial metrics. Opening the door to increased competition from large e-commerce giants, a more inflation-conscious consumer has sought out flower and gift offerings from Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) ), Walmart (WMT - Free Report) , and Costco (COST - Free Report) .

On top of this, an abundance of direct floral competitors have continued to emerge, including Teleflora, ProFlowers, and UrbanStems, among others.

 

1-800 Flowers' Declining Financial Metrics

Facing substantial drops in both revenue and profit margins, 1-800 Flowers hasn’t been profitable since its fiscal year 2022, posting a net loss of $200 million or -$0.82 per share in its most recent FY25.

Hopes of positive EPS in FY26 or FY27 have also subsided as revisions are down over the last 60 days to projections of -$0.62 and -$0.18, respectively.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

This paints the picture as to why FLWS could float lower with there being no meaningful top-line expansion to give the benefit of the doubt to a company that has been public since 1999.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

1-800 Fowers’ Cash Crunch

Not to prolong the conversation of a clear downtrend in FLWS, but what makes the compressed top and bottom line figures more concerning is that 1-800 Flowers appears to be in a cash crunch.   

Reporting negative free cash flow in the last twelve months (-$68 million), it's noteworthy that 1-800 Flowers now has less than $50 million in cash & equivalents with more than $130 million in long-term debt.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

 

Bottom Line

Investors who are looking at 1-800 Flowers' "cheap" stock price as a bargain may want to think again. While FLWS could eventually be a candidate for a short squeeze, it may keep falling for now as 1-800 Flowers doesn’t appear to be in a position to cover short-term debt obligations without liquidating assets or seeking additional financing.

Correlating with such, 1-800 Flowers has undergone a leadership change and is reevaluating its strategy to adapt to shifting consumer expectations and competitive pressures.

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