Been watching Five Below's stock spiral and honestly, it's wild to see how far it's fallen. Down 61% this year alone, and we're talking about a company that was supposed to keep climbing. The retail discounter that sells everything for five bucks or less just can't catch a break right now.

They've missed earnings expectations twice in the span of a few months, same-store sales turned negative, and then they dropped the bomb - longtime CEO Joel Anderson stepping down. That's the kind of chaos that makes investors nervous. The company had to slash guidance multiple times since March, and now comps are looking like they'll be down 6 to 7% for the quarter.

But here's what caught my attention - and I think Rick Munarriz made a solid observation on this - sometimes when all the bad news is already out there, that's actually when things get interesting. Five Below's been through rough patches before and recovered. The balance sheet is still solid, they've got cash, and they know how to expand stores profitably.

Trading at less than 16 times earnings and a price-to-sales ratio of just 1.3, the valuation is historically cheap for a retailer. Yeah, they need to prove they can turn this around, and finding a new CEO matters. They might even scale back that ambitious 3,500-store expansion plan, which honestly could be seen as a smart move rather than a failure.

The company's not broken - it's just in the middle of a rough cycle. Comps have been negative before over the past decade and they've bounced back. Could be a while before we see clear skies, but at these prices, the upside might actually outweigh the downside. Definitely one to keep on the radar if you're looking at beaten-down retail plays.