Retailers posted sluggish sales results in the month of July, due to weak back-to-school shopping season. Customers refrained from solid spending amid higher food and gas prices, subprime concerns and weakening housing market. Apparel retailers like Pacific Sunwear of California and Wet Seal stood out as the most notable losers. Wal-Mart Stores posted higher-than-forecast same-store sales but warned that its increased discounting is hurting profit margins. At the same time, sales released by J.C. Penney Co. and Costco Wholesale beat expectations.
Among discounters, Wal-Mart (
WMT: chart) posted a 1.9% gain in same-store sales, beating the 1.5% analyst estimate. The retailer said that on the one hand price reductions on more than 16,000 products encouraged consumers to buy, but on the other, the heavier discounting is hurting profits.
At the same time, rival Target Corp. (
TGT: chart) said its July same-store sales rose 6.1%, above the 5.9% forecast. Costco (
COST: chart) reported a 7% increase in same-store sales, exceeding the 5.5% estimate.
Some apparel retailers released upbeat results. J.C. Penney (
JCP: chart) also beat expectations after it posted a robust 10.8% jump in its department store business, above the 9.8% forecast. Nordstrom (
JWN: chart) posted better-than-expected same-store sales rise of 9.4%
Among companies posting weak sales results, Macy''s Inc. (
M: chart) had a 1.4% decline in same-store sales, almost in line with the 1.5% analysts expected.
On the long list of disappointments, Limited (
LTD: chart) posted a 3% same-store sales drop, falling short of the expected 0.5% decline. Gap Inc. (
GPS: chart) fell short of expectations, posting a 7% drop in same-store sales, vs. estimates of 4.95 decline.
Teen retailers posted considerable losses. A lot of store executives blamed the tax holiday shifts in Texas and Florida as a major factor. AnnTaylor (
ANN: chart) posted a 5%decline in same-store sales, worse than the 3.4% expected.
Abercrombie & Fitch (
ANF: chart) same-store sales fell 4%, worse than the 0.7 percent expected. American Eagle Outfitters (
AEOS: chart) said its same-store sales fell 6%, missing estimates of a 2.9% increase.
Pacific Sunwear (
PSUN: chart) had a 4.6%, down from the anticipated 3.2% gain. Bebe Stores (
BEBE: chart) posted a 6.3% decline, steeper than the 4.6% expected.
| 2007 SAME-STORE SALES |
| Company | Ticker | January | February | March | April | May | June | July |
| Apparel Retailers |
| Abercrombie & Fitch | ANF | -6.00% | -6.00% | 7.00% | -15.00% | -5.00% | 2.00% | -4.00% |
| Aeropostale | ARO | 5.40% | 2.30% | 15.90% | -14.00% | 1.90% | 0.00% | -11.90% |
| AmericanEagle | AEOS | 17.00% | NA | 20.00% | -10.00% | 5.00% | 8.00% | -6.00% |
| AnnTaylor | ANN | -10.20% | -2.90% | 6.10% | -12.80% | -4.60% | -8.40% | -5.00% |
| Bebe | BEBE | 0.80% | -2.20% | 0.10% | -9.00% | -3.00% | -5.40% | -6.30% |
| Buckle | BKE | 7.80% | 4.50% | 10.70% | 1.80% | 8.80% | 13.30% | 7.60% |
| Cato | CTR | -7.00% | 0.00% | 7.00% | -21.00% | 2.00% | 0.00% | -5.00% |
| CharmingShoppes | CHRS | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Chico's | CHS | -3.50% | -4.30% | 5.20% | -7.00% | -2.90% | -7.30% | -6.70% |
| Children'sPlace, The | PLCE | 3.00% | 5.00% | 7.00% | -2.00% | 4.00% | -4.00% | -1.00% |
| Christopher & Banks | CBK | -4.00% | -13.00% | 0.00% | -12.00% | 4.00% | 3.00% | 4.00% |
| CitiTrends | CTRN | 3.20% | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Claires | CLE | 3.00% | 1.00% | 8.00% | -6.00% | NA | NA | NA |
| DebShops | DEBS | -3.80% | -2.00% | 6.50% | -4.70% | 0.20% | 1.90% | -2.00% |
| Dillards | DDS | -3.00% | -9.00% | 6.00% | -14.00% | -2.00% | -1.00% | -6.00% |
| DressBarn | DBRN | 8.00% | 0.00% | 12.00% | -6.00% | NA | 2.00% | 3.00% |
| Federated Dept. | FD | 8.60% | 1.20% | 2.30% | -2.20% | -3.30% | -2.70% | -1.40% |
| Gap | GPS | 0.00% | -4.00% | 6.00% | -16.00% | -3.00% | -5.00% | -7.00% |
| Gottschalks | GOT | -1.00% | -3.60% | 6.40% | -5.40% | -3.80% | -5.80% | -3.90% |
| Guess | GES | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Gymboree | GYMB | 0.00% | 1.00% | 9.00% | -5.00% | NA | NA | NA |
| Hot Topic | HOTT | -6.60% | -2.70% | 3.40% | -9.10% | -6.10% | -4.00% | -7.40% |
| J.C.Penney | JCP | 3.60% | -0.20% | 10.60% | 0.00% | -2.00% | -1.50% | 14.00% |
| Jo-AnnStores | JAS | -6.30% | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Jos.A.Bank | JOSB | -4.70% | 2.80% | 1.40% | 7.30% | 13.50% | 0.40% | -6.40% |
| Kohl's | KSS | 8.70% | 4.40% | 16.80% | -10.50% | 10.50% | -4.90% | 0.00% |
| LimitedBrands | LTD | 11.00% | 3.00% | 8.00% | -1.00% | 2.00% | 3.00% | -3.00% |
| Men'sWearhouse | MW | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| MotherWorks | MWRK | -6.00% | -4.70% | 3.60% | -14.80% | -3.60% | -5.40% | -9.40% |
| Nordstrom | JWN | 11.00% | 9.10% | 15.00% | 3.10% | 6.30% | 2.00% | 9.40% |
| Pacific Sunwear | PSUN | -7.70% | -5.70% | 14.10% | -6.50% | 6.40% | 4.50% | -4.60% |
| RossStores | ROST | 2.00% | 1.00% | 6.00% | -7.00% | 1.00% | 4.00% | 1.00% |
| Saks | SKS | 11.40% | 25.00% | 10.10% | 11.70% | 37.50% | -5.60% | 14.90% |
| SteinMart | SMRT | -1.90% | -1.90% | 8.00% | -13.90% | 2.50% | -2.90% | -3.40% |
| Talbots | TLB | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| TJX | TJX | 4.00% | 2.00% | 6.00% | -1.00% | 5.00% | 5.00% | 5.00% |
| Drug Stores |
| CVS | CVS | 8.60% | 7.00% | 7.00% | 6.10% | 6.20% | 5.40% | NA |
| Walgreen | WAG | 10.80% | 8.60% | 8.00% | 9.20% | 6.40% | 5.10% | 7.20% |
| Wholesale Stores |
| BJ's Wholesale Club | BJ | 3.50% | 3.00% | 3.10% | -2.10% | 4.10% | 5.30% | 1.50% |
| Costco | COST | 2.00% | 4.00% | 6.00% | 7.00% | 7.00% | 6.00% | 7.00% |
| Family Dollar | FDO | 0.10% | -0.50% | 5.80% | -4.90% | 2.50% | 1.50% | 0.50% |
| Shoe Stores |
| DSW | DSW | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Payless Shoesource | PSS | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| FinishLine | FINL | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Discount Retailers |
| Target | TGT | 5.10% | 5.70% | 12.00% | -6.10% | 5.80% | 3.30% | 6.10% |
| Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | 2.20% | 0.90% | 4.00% | -3.50% | 1.10% | 2.40% | 1.90% |
| Pier1 Imports | PIR | -13.20% | -8.40% | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Sharper Image | SHRP | -25.00% | -24.00% | -29.00 | -11.00% | -8.00% | -7.00% | -15.00% |
| Miscellaneous |
| BigLots | BIG | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
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