J.P. Morgan Maintains Overweight on Staples (SPLS)

J.P. Morgan released its report yesterday on Staples SPLS, maintaining Overweight after a Q1 11 miss. In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan writes, "While a miss was clearly being priced into the stock and many expected guidance to be lowered, today's results were worse than the median sentiment; the numbers generally nailed the bear case in terms of 1Q EPS, 2011 guidance, and key structural concerns. These include an over-competitive category that results in a pound-for-pound soft sales recovery and margin pressure from pricing and investments." At the time of posting, shares of SPLS were trading at $16.85, down 14.25% from Tuesday's close.