Joanne Crevoiserat might have had to turn to Plan B for Tapestry Inc. after the $8.5 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings fell through — but the chief executive officer hasn’t lost her ambition. Crevoiserat is looking at the global handbag opportunity anew, defining the total addressable market not by how many people bought bags last year, but how many people could have. More from WWD “That is giving us an opportunity to expand our brand reach across geographies and generations,” Crevoiserat told WWD in ...

Acquisition & Strategy - Tapestry's attempted $85 billion acquisition of Capri Holdings was blocked by the FTC due to concerns about creating an excessively concentrated player in the accessible luxury handbags market [1][2] - Wall Street disliked the Capri deal, fearing Tapestry would overstretch its balance sheet to acquire a consistently worse operator [3] - Tapestry redeemed deal debt and announced a $28 billion buyback program, including a $2 billion accelerated share repurchase program, representing roughly 15% of shares outstanding [6][7] - Tapestry sold its Steuart Weitzman brand to focus on the core Coach brand and turning around Kate Spade [8][9] Financial Performance & Market Dynamics - Tapestry's stock has increased 148% since the merger was blocked and is up 69% for the year [2] - Coach's revenue growth accelerated from 2% to 15% on a constant currency basis [11][12] - Tapestry delivered substantial top and bottom-line beats, raising full-year earnings forecast by $025 [10] - Kate Spade's constant currency revenue growth has declined for eight straight quarters, down 12% [16] Future Outlook & Risks - Tapestry aims to turn around Kate Spade by emulating Coach's strategies, targeting younger consumers and developing new products [17] - The stock trades at just under 22 times this year's earnings estimate, with 18% earnings growth, but is considered inherently risky given its recent performance [19][20] - The report suggests a potential buying opportunity if Tapestry reports a good quarter that doesn't fully satisfy shareholders, leading to a sell-off [20]