Coach Shares Are Getting Crushed

In afternoon trade on Tuesday, shares of the upscale accessories maker were down more than 6% after the company reported sales on Tuesday morning that fell 10% from the prior year.

Including Tuesday's sell off, the stock is down nearly 40% this year.

For its fiscal first quarter, Coach reported that sales fell 10% from the prior year to $1.04 billion. Earnings in the third quarter, excluding certain items, of $0.53 per share, down from $0.77.

Both of these, however, beat expectations, but despite the lowered expectations, it seems that investors have grown weary of declining sales and falling margins.

In the third quarter, Coach's operating margin fell to 20.9% from 27.9% the prior year, while gross margin also fell to 69.3% from 71.8% a year ago.

In a statement, Coach CEO Victor Luis said, "Our first quarter results were in line with our expectations and our annual guidance, as continued international growth was offset by our North American handbag business where we have strategically reduced promotional events... While we recognize that our many initiatives will take time to be evidenced in our financial results, our performance to date has been on plan, and we are confident we have the creative direction, team and resources to execute our brand transformation."

On Twitter, Rob Wilson of Tiburon Research, outlined some thoughts on why investors might be bailing on Coach and their flagging brand transformation plan.

Here's the ugly chart of Coach's year-to-date performance, which has significantly lagged the XRT ETF that tracks the retail sector.