Fossil Group Stock Downgraded To Hold At Jefferies, Price Target Lowered To $40

Fossil Group Inc. was downgraded to hold from buy at Jefferies, and the price target lowered to $40 from $68. The accessories company is suffering from a slowdown in the watch category and increased competition, including digital competitors like the Apple Watch and FitBit Inc. . A licensing partnership with Michael Kors Holdings , which has seen its shares tumble more than 46% over the past 12 months, is also hurting Fossil. "[W]hat we learned about watches is that growth is fueled largely by fashion, not function, making the market very susceptible to changing fashion trends, and thus leading to a prolonged downswing as the most recent fashion trend cycle waned," the bank said in a note. The company acquired Misfit in order to make inroads into the global wearables category, but only has about 1% of the market. Fossil shares are down 69.2% over the past 12 months. The S&P is down 3.3% for the same period.