Walmart and Kohl’s: Weak Results, Weaker Outlooks

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) reported earnings for its third fiscal quarter on Thursday morning as well. The retailer posted diluted EPS of $0.81, compared with EPS of $0.91 in the same period last year. Sales slipped from $4.49 billion to $4.44 billion. The consensus estimates called for EPS of $0.86 on revenues of $4.55 billion.

At Walmart, U.S. same-store sales were down 0.1% compared with last year, excluding fuel sales, and down 0.2% including fuel. For the year to date, same-store sales are down 0.4% excluding fuel sales and down 0.5% including fuel sales. The falling price of gasoline has hurt the fuel sales comparables, but the overall drop in same-store sales is not a good sign. Walmart said that online sales had a positive impact of 0.2% on same-store sales for the third quarter.

Kohl’s reported that quarterly same-store sales fell 1.6% year-over-year in the third quarter and were down 0.9% for the year to date.

For the full fiscal year, Walmart chopped EPS guidance from a prior range of $5.10 to $5.30 to a new range of $5.01 to $5.11. Excluding certain items, Walmart said the new range is $5.11 to $5.21. The items that will affect EPS are a charge of $0.06 per share to close approximately 50 stores in Brazil and China and a charge of $0.04 as a result of taking over wholesale operations in India. The discontinued restaurant operations in Mexico are expected to add $0.06 to EPS.

Kohl’s now estimates EPS for its fourth quarter in a range of $1.59 to $1.74. The current consensus estimate is $1.70 on sales of $6.18 billion. The company expects sales to fall 2% to 4% for the fourth quarter and same-store sales growth from flat to down 2%. Kohl’s also cut its full-year earnings guidance from a prior range of $4.15 to $4.35 to a new range of $4.08 to $4.23. The consensus full-year estimate called for EPS of $4.23 on revenues of $19.22 billion.

Walmart attributes its lowered guidance to global economic trends, including ongoing headwinds from currency exchange rate fluctuations, a competitive holiday season and a higher effective tax rate. Kohl’s did not offer any explanation for its guidance cuts, but the weaker same-store sales pretty much make clear what is happening at the company’s stores.

Walmart shares were down about 1.6% in premarket trading, at $77.64 in a 52-week range of $67.37 to $79.96. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $82.20 before the results were announced.

Shares of Kohl’s were down about 9.5% in premarket trading, at $52.70 in a 52-week range of $41.35 to $59.00. The consensus analyst price target was around $54.05 before this report.