Interesting you mentioned Adairs - along with Myer the closest in the list of companies you mentioned to the types of things Dusk does. Its half yearly report was pretty poor.
Group sales of $291.4 million, down 10.1% on a comparable 26-week basis
Gross profit down 6.8%
CODB down 3.9% with cost management initiatives fully offsetting inflationary pressures from higher wage rates, payroll taxes, rents and utilities
Underlying Group EBIT of $28.6 million (27 weeks: $30.9 million), down 19.3% on a comparable 26-week basis
Their margin and CODB were better and they paid off some debt but still that doesn't suggest a company growing and going places. I suspect in their case investors have decided that the worst has already happened and that is why Adairs' share price is improving.
(20min delay)