Barron’s came out with a great cover story this month about the state of the mattress market. It wasn’t exactly a comedy piece, but I laughed anyway. It’s not everyday that you get to read an article about investing that starts with your sex life.
The crux of the article is this: Memory foam mattresses are super popular, making Tempur-pedic’s (TPX) stock value shoot up 274% since 2003. Put that down on the list of things I wish I had known. Unfortunately, now that other companies, like Sealy (ZZ) and Select Comfort (SCSS), are coming into the memory foam market, things aren’t looking quite as rosy for Tempur-pedic.
The article also points out a drawback of these nouveau mattresses, which may be the savior of bed springs, as Sealy exhibits in their 2012 Super Bowl commercial. Apparently memory foam makes amorous activities rather challenging. There’s no evidence that there’s a direct correlation between this difficulty and success or failure in the mattress market, but it makes sense that this particular product depends on more than just the quality of sleep. Does this mean it qualifies as a “sin stock?”
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