Oct. 11--The last thing that Select Comfort needed was Wall Street's meltdown. The beleaguered air-mattress maker that is known for its humorous commercials isn't laughing much these days, as jittery investors have dumped the shares in droves.

The stock fell to less than $1 a share last week, down from $14.75 a year ago and a far cry from its $25 price two years ago.

With that decline, it joins thousands of stocks sunk by nervous investors who are unsure how to react in the wake of Wall Street's staggering $700 billion bailout by Congress and President Bush on Oct. 3.

Market troubles aside, some analysts say Select Comfort has needed a bailout of its own. In February, CEO Bill McLaughlin stepped down as chairman and announced that he would not take an annual salary until conditions improved for the company.

They haven't.

The dwindling economy is the company's primary culprit. As consumers have slashed discretionary spending, they've largely shunned the company's high-price Sleep Number beds.

Of the 11 analysts that follow Select Comfort, none currently has a "buy" recommendation on the shares. Nearly all have lowered earnings expectations and at least five downgraded the stock to "hold" or "underperform" in the past year.

Short-sellers made money hand over fist on bets that the price would continue to fall. In April, when the stock traded in the $3 range, more than 20 percent of shares were in the hands of short-sellers, betting it would fall further.

Still some of the company's problems are of its own doing. It repurchased large amounts of stock at high prices just as the market was softening.

In June, the Clinton Group, which owns roughly 7 percent of the company, asked the board to replace McLaughlin, stop new store openings, kill the current ad campaign and return to a direct-marketing strategy.

First-quarter sales fell 7 percent. Second-quarter sales slumped 15 percent, to $152 million, as second-quarter earnings went from $2.9 million in 2007 to a $6.6 million loss in 2008. Third-quarter earnings are due out Oct. 22.

"The stock has come under pressure because of fears about the economy and the overall market. And Select Comfort is clearly in an economically sensitive business right now and has had some major disappointments during the year," Craig-Hallum Capital research analyst Bob Evans said. Going forward "they have got to show top-line growth again. They have to be able to stabilize their same-store sales and show some growth there."

Evans said he's expecting a 27-cent loss on earnings for 2008.