struggling homegoods retailer and memestock phenomenon bed bath  beyond reported its fiscal secondquarter results on thursday with the company touting its turnaround plan but analysts warn there are plenty of challenges ahead bed bath  beyond inc bbby ended thursday’s session down 42 outpacing the sp 500 index’s spx decline of 21 “bbby fundamentals remain challenged with 2q comps and eps solidly negative” wrote keybanc capital markets analyst bradley thomas in a note released on thursday bed bath  beyond’s sales were down 28 on the prior year’s quarter and the company also reported losses that were much higher than expected the retailer’s results significantly underperformed compared with census bureau data for sales at furniture and homefurnishings stores which declined 02 year over year in the junetoaugust period according to keybanc “the company continues to execute inventory mix changes by exiting nearly a third of the legacyowned brands while increasing popular national brands to drive traffic and growth” wrote thomas “we remain cautious about fundamentals at bbby and maintain our underweight rating and our 2 price target” raymond james also reaffirmed its underperform rating for bed bath  beyond with analyst bobby griffin highlighting the company’s ongoing cash burn and noting that its need to preserve cash and liquidity is limiting instore investments this he said will likely further deter customer traffic and hurt brand perception among younger customers “while bed bath  beyond’s improved liquidity position 085b of available gives new management some additional time it likely only ‘kicks the can down the road’ as underlying business trends remain very challenging no signs of improved comp sales  sizable quarterly cash burn” he wrote in the note released friday “even with a move back towards more branded products we struggle to see a pathway for improved performance especially with discretionary consumer spending and housing slowing further in 2h222023” bed bath  beyond gave an improved inventory outlook this week and projected breakeven operating cash flow by the end of fiscal 2022 also read bed bath  beyond’s turnaround plan leaves ‘questions that have really not been answered to any degree’ in a note released on thursday wells fargo analyst zachary fadem described bed bath  beyond’s results as “indefensible” pointing to the company’s yearoveryear sales decline and the 3205 million in cash it burned through during the quarter “needless to say the company has a lot of wood to chop to improve underlying trends which are tracking ‘similar’ in earlyq3 flatten the freecashflow burn and fill the unfortunate void of its lost cfo” he wrote earlier this month the company’s chief financial officer gustavo arnal jumped to his death from a new york skyscraper marking the latest chapter in a turbulent period for the troubled retailer in june mark tritton was ousted as bed bath  beyond’s ceo after less than three years in the role tritton’s attempts to breathe new life into the ailing company were hampered by supplychain disruptions labor shortages inflation and the covid19 pandemic carol spieckerman president of retail advisory firm spieckerman retail told marketwatch at the time wells fargo’s fadem also pointed to bed bath  beyond’s steeperthanexpected grossmargin declines and the prospect of additional headwinds in the second half of the year as older inventory is cleared and replaced by national brands this he wrote will likely exacerbate recent freecashflow pressures read is the golden age of the meme stock rally over “on a positive note new initiatives welcome rewards new merchandise and simply saying ‘hello’ to customers are seemingly resonating” he wrote but added that restructuring efforts are clearly warranted in a statement released on thursday sue gove bed bath  beyond’s interim ceo said that the retailer is heading in the right direction “although still very early we are seeing signs of continued progress as merchandising and inventory changes begin” she wrote “for example we have seen positive sales trends where instock positions and visual merchandising have improved” bed bath  beyond is also considering liabilitymanagement transactions with particular focus on 2024 bonds the company said of 17 analysts surveyed by factset five have a hold rating for bed bath  beyond while 12 have an underweight or sell rating