Do Macy’s Holiday Sales Signal a Turnaround?

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 30, 11:27AM EST · Published Jan 8, 10:40AM EST

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Do Macy’s Holiday Sales Signal a Turnaround? — © jeepersmedia / Flickr

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M | M Price Prediction) shares got a bit of a bump on Wednesday after the retailer announced its holiday season results. While these results were not necessarily positive, investors might see this as a turnaround from where this stock was in November.

The company said that it had a comparable sales decline of 0.7% on an owned-basis. On an owned-plus-licensed basis, comparable sales decreased 0.6%. The consensus estimate for the holiday season was a comparable sales decrease of 0.5%.

Comparable sales declined by 3.5% in the fiscal third quarter. Consensus estimates are calling for comparable sales to decrease 2.5% in the fiscal fourth quarter.

Jeff Gennette, board chair and chief executive of Macy’s, commented:

Macy’s, Inc.’s performance during the holiday season reflected a strong trend improvement from the third quarter. Our digital business and Growth150 stores performed well. Additionally, customers responded to our gifting assortment and marketing strategy, particularly in the 10 days before Christmas. The entire organization committed to delivering Holiday 2019, and it showed up in our execution. I want to thank all of our colleagues – full-time, part-time and seasonal – for their hard work and dedication to serving our customers.

[nativounit]

Excluding Wednesday’s move, Macy’s had vastly underperformed the broad markets, with its stock down about 41% in the past 52 weeks. Over the past quarter, the stock is actually up 17.5%.

Shares of Macy’s were last seen up over 1% at $17.95, in a 52-week range of $14.11 to $31.99. The consensus price target is $15.23.

[recirclink id=606035]
[wallst_email_signup]

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.