double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs vietnamese seafood double-skinned crabs mud crab exporter double-skinned crabs double-skinned crabs crabs crab exporter soft shell crab crab meat crab roe mud crab sea crab vietnamese crabs seafood food vietnamese sea food double-skinned crab double-skinned crab soft-shell crabs meat crabs roe crabs
Business

Kim Kardashian is in talks with Coty about a new cosmetics line

By
Lisa Fickenscher
Published June 3, 2020
Updated June 3, 2020, 9:40 p.m. ET

Just days after getting slammed for its ties to Kylie Jenner, Coty is going back for more.

The New York cosmetics giant, which already owns a 51 percent stake in Kylie Cosmetics, is now in talks with Jenner’s older sister, Kim Kardashian West, to collaborate on “certain beauty products.” The conversations, which Coty revealed in a brief regulatory filing late Tuesday, sent the company’s stock up 13 percent Wednesday, to close at $4.75.

Just last week, investors pushed Coty shares down — also by 13 percent — following an explosive Forbes report claiming Jenner, 22, has been lying about her cosmetic company’s sales in a desperate attempt to be named a billionaire.

But that scandal was in Coty’s rearview mirror this week as investors embraced Chief Executive Peter Harf’s plan to lean on his pal Kris Jenner — the mother of Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner — to grow the struggling company.

“Kris Jenner and I are good friends,” said Harf in a conference call on Tuesday — one day after being named CEO. “I think I’m very proud that the Jenner family is working with us and [that we] have access to them and to all other people who are big key opinion leaders on social media.”

Harf then added, “I could get more concrete but this is not yet in the public domain.” That tantalizing comment likely forced the company to disclose a few hours later that its talks were with Kardashian West, watchers said.

Analysts agreed that Coty doubling down on the famous family for new revenue growth could work — despite the latest scandal.

Kardashian West’s KKW brand of cosmetics is considered a hot seller at Ulta, DA Davidson analyst Linda Bolton Weiser said. What’s more, Kardashian West’s product line won’t compete with Jenner’s because it’s largely beige and brown in color, while Jenner is all about pink and flashy colors.

“The market’s response today would suggest it’s a positive headline,” added Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink, who noted that Kardashian West launched a limited edition fragrance line in late 2017 that “sold out very quickly.”

Jenner, who has not been accused of lying to Coty, has denied Forbes’ allegations.