The Intern Who Stayed After Midnight

NorthBridge had missed three quarters, blamed weather twice, blamed freight costs once, and announced a strategic review that meant management had no strategy. The stock traded at $14, down from $38. Short interest was high. Every research note used the word challenged. Ethan expected the model to confirm the consensus. Instead he found something strange. Inventory was still elevated, but not uniformly. Basic apparel had been marked down aggressively. Outerwear had fallen faster than reported sales implied. Store closures were hitting low-margin locations. Online sales returns, a line management had once treated as a crisis, had stabilized. The company's revolver draw had not increased despite the bad quarter.