Bed Bath & Beyond stock sinks after retailer calls shareholder meeting to approve reverse stock split

Struggling home-goods retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
BBBY,
-2.83%
on Friday said it planned to hold a special meeting in which shareholders would vote on whether to allow the company to carry out a reverse stock split, should its board decide to do so. Shares tumbled 19% after hours. Shareholder approval would amend Bed Bath & Beyond’s certificate of incorporation to carry out “a reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a ratio in the range of 1-for-5 to 1-for-10, with such ratio to be determined at the discretion of the Board.” The time and location of the meeting will be announced later, the company said. “Our proposal for a reverse stock split will enable us to continue rebuilding liquidity to execute our turnaround plans and better position the Company financially,” Sue Gove, Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief executive, said in a statement. The company said the split would “not have any effect” on its value or shareholders’ proportional ownership, and that it could “revoke the proposal and cancel the special meeting at any time if it determines that the reverse stock split is no longer in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.”