RadioShack Corporation (RSH), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN): Does This Company Have Lots of Value, Or Is It Plummeting to Its Death?

Fort Worth-based RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) has clearly fallen on tough times. The once-ubiquitous electronics retailer has been forced to lay off thousands of employees and close many outlets as large-scale changes to the industry in which it operates have rendered it increasingly unable to compete with its peers.

The company has faced competitive pressures from all directions, including online retailers like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), which sells many of the same products at a discount, as well as online auction sites like eBay that offer bulk deals and other innovative gimmicks. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) sold $61 billion worth of products in the last 12 months, compared to only $4 billion by Radio Shack.  Of course, not all of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s sales are electronics, but sales of electronics have been growing for years at the online retailer.  What’s more, Radio Shack faces pressure from healthier, more nimble physical retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. From a business perspective,the niche that Radio Shack occupies seems to be shrinking rapidly.rced to lay off thousands of employees and close many outlets as large-scale changes to the industry in which it operates have rendered it increasingly unable to compete with its peers. The company has faced competitive pressures from all directions,

However, it is not completely clear that RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) is in a terminal decline. Many of the wounds that it has suffered over the past decade are self-inflicted and might be corrected through aggressive action on the part of its management team. Investors who believe that Radio Shack can pull itself out of its current tailspin might be heartened by its rock-bottom price-to-book value of .56. Despite a recent raft of analyst downgrades, this low valuation might hint at a temporary share-price resurgence that could benefit keen-eyed investors.

About Radio Shack

RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) is one of the most recognizable American electronics retailers. During its heyday, the company’s stores were hailed as innovative, friendly places that provided customers with a wide range of electronic devices and equipment that could not easily be purchased elsewhere. It still operates around 4,700 stores in the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean. Through a partnership with Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), it also operates around 1,500 communications kiosks inside Target’s big-box stores. Hopefully, Radio Shack can gain sales from a percentage of the customers that are spending $73 billion at Target annually.  Finally, Radio Shack sells most of the items that are available in its stores on its proprietary e-commerce site. Radio Shack employs about 24,000 people and lost $139.6 million on gross 2012 revenues of $4.3 billion.