5 Beauty Stocks in an Ugly Market

Can vanity trump a slowing economy?

By Kirk Shinkle

Posted: January 14, 2009

Bare Escentuals (BARE)

Bare Escentuals, a scrappy San Francisco cosmetics maker, is facing a tough year as well. After going public in 2006, much of its life as a publicly traded company has played out during one of the fiercest bear markets on record. To counter slowing customer demand, the company announced in October that it would cut prices on some products and increase marketing spending. Analysts warn that those moves may not be enough to spark interest in the stock or fend off deeper-pocketed rivals like Estée Lauder and L'Oréal. Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Rommel Dionisio cut the stock to "hold" in October and lowered his price target from $10 a share to $6. Bare trades at $4.90.

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