Macy’s Continues to Disappear

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) has already cut stores in an effort to downsize. The decision was too little too late. Shares of the retailer fell more than 13% to a new 52-week low of $31.91 Wednesday morning, as CEO Terry J. Lundgren continues to bungle management of the troubled company. Macy’s is well along the path to disappearing, like several other large retailers.

Macy’s net sales (revenue) dropped to $5.77 billion in the last quarter, down from $6.23 billion in the same period a year earlier. Operating income dropped to $276 million from $409 million in the period a year earlier.

Macy’s hit the Wall Street buzz saw with its very disappointing forecast:

Noting that the uncertain direction of consumer spending makes predictions of future performance difficult, Macy’s, Inc. now expects full-year 2016 comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis to decrease in the range of 3 percent to 4 percent, with comparable sales on an owned basis to be approximately 50 basis points lower. This compares with previous guidance for comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis to decline by approximately 1 percent in fiscal 2016.

With top-line sales expected to remain below our initial expectations, the company has revised its guidance for earnings per diluted share (excluding settlement charges) in fiscal 2016 to a range of $3.15 to $3.40. This compares with previous guidance of $3.80 to $3.90 per diluted share in 2016.

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Macy’s did not have much to say about its online efforts. Generally, a retailer would, if the numbers showed substantial success.

Lundgren closed his comments as follows:

As we rebuild our business for a comeback that we expect will begin later this year, we continue to focus on agility and innovation – supporting and testing new ideas and approaches so we can identify the best way to serve evolving customer needs, and moving fast to scale up the most successful pilots on a broader basis to fully capture growth opportunities.

A real long shot.