A Goal department store on June 07, 2022 in Miami, Florida. Goal announced that it expects profits will take a short-term hit, because it marks down unwanted items, cancels orders and takes aggressive steps to do away with extra inventory.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Goal on Tuesday will report holiday-quarter results, as retailers brace for a yr that appears poised to bring slower sales and more price-conscious customers.
Here’s what analysts predict for Goal’s fiscal fourth quarter, in response to consensus estimates from Refinitiv:
- Adjusted earnings per share: $1.40 expected
- Revenue: $30.7 billion expected
The large-box retailer, known for selling lower-priced, but fashion-forward clothing, home goods and more, saw sales spike through the first two years of the pandemic. Its annual total revenue grew by about $28 billion – or about 36% – from fiscal 2019 to 2021.
Yet over the past yr, Goal has faced a shift in each sales trends and market sentiment. The discounter has develop into a poster child within the industry for inventory troubles, squeezed profit margins and concerns about inflation-pinched, middle-income consumers. The corporate has missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations for 3 consecutive quarters and warned investors to expect soft holiday sales.
Goal’s stock has fallen nearly 40% from its all-time closing high. It closed on Monday at $166.81 per share, bringing its market value to just about $77 billion. Up to now this yr, nevertheless, its shares are up about 12% , outpacing the virtually 4% rise within the S&P 500.
Alongside its fiscal fourth-quarter results, Goal is predicted to share full-year guidance at an investor day in Latest York City.
Up to now, retailers have delivered cautious outlooks for the yr ahead. Walmart said last week that it expects same-store sales to rise between 2% and a pair of.5% excluding fuel for its U.S. business, with that growth coming from inflation reasonably than a rise in unit volume. Elsewhere, Home Depot missed revenue expectations for the primary time since November 2019 and said it expects full-year sales growth to be roughly flat.
Goal is more vulnerable than its archrival Walmart. Groceries account for just 20% of Goal’s sales, while Walmart gets greater than half of its sales from the frequency-driving category. It is also well-known for “Goal runs,” or trips that encourage shoppers to replenish their baskets with discretionary items and impulse buys together with the item they went to the shop for — a habit that will not hold as consumers return to busier schedules, spend money on restaurants and other services and keep a better eye on their budgets.
That is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
