To date, 149 of the 199 companies in our Retail/Restaurant Index have reported their EPS results for Q2 2024, representing 75% of the index. Of those companies that have reported their quarterly results, 71% announced profits that beat analysts’ expectations, while 4% delivered on-target results and 25% reported earnings that fell below estimates. The Q2 2024 blended earnings growth estimate now stands at 13.2%. The blended revenue growth estimate for the 199 companies in this index is 3.6% for Q2 2024. Of those companies that have reported their quarterly results so far, 50% announced revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations and

X is still worth something, but not for the people running it. Boss Linda Yaccarino is set to present her plans for the social network formerly known as Twitter to bankers holding nearly $13 billion of its debt, the Financial Times reported. Looming over talks is the likelihood that X’s value is substantially less than even that figure. This week’s meeting with seven banks led by Morgan Stanley that supported Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the platform caps off a tumultuous first four months for Yaccarino, a former advertising executive at Comcast-owned NBCUniversal. That includes a contentious interview last week in which

Rising to the top is rarely easy, nor cheap. That’s what Smurfit Kappa’s boss Anthony Smurfit learnt in his $11 billion swoop on U.S. rival WestRock, a deal that would create a global leader in paper and cardboard boxes used by the likes of Amazon.com and Unilever. The nearly 40% premium he’s offering risks overshadowing chunky cost cuts, and will shrink returns. Yet standing still in a softening packaging market is not an option. Smurfit Kappa confirmed on Tuesday that it would combine with WestRock. Under the terms of the deal, the Irish box maker will offer one of its shares plus

The price of PayPal’s CEO hunt just grew by some $9 billion. Six months after boss Dan Schulman said he was retiring, the company unveiled disappointing second-quarter results that sent the shares down by another 11% on Thursday, lopping the 10-figure sum off its market value. Vital strategic plans are in a costly holding pattern. An e-commerce boom during the pandemic lifted PayPal’s stock price to a record high of about $308 in mid-2021. A five-plus year stretch of double-digit percentage revenue growth ended last year, when the rate slowed to a little more than 8%, and the shares have plummeted

Alibaba’s biggest overhaul in over two decades might prove contagious. China’s e-commerce group is splitting into six units, some of which may then be listed or sold. That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators and politicians keen to control strategic businesses. Other tech giants like Tencent may follow. The restructuring will give each of Alibaba’s six businesses, which include its core commerce division, as well as cloud computing, games and logistics units, their own chief executive and board of directors. More importantly, each division will have the option to “pursue independent fundraising and IPOs”, according to boss Daniel Zhang,

At Walmart, boring is the new fabulous. The $390 billion retailing giant is a bellwether for consumer spending. So, it would follow that, as wallets become pinched, low growth and slim margins would be cause for concern. But Walmart benefits from being big, established, and, importantly, profitable, and the latter can’t be said for Amazon.com’s retail business. As the shine comes off of technology companies, Walmart’s failures are an afterthought. The company led by Doug McMillon warned on Tuesday that a lack of visibility into its shoppers is causing Walmart to exercise caution. U.S sales for the same set of stores is expected to

One of China’s biggest exports in 2023 will be its social e-commerce phenomenon. TikTok, YouTube and Amazon.com are among the companies rolling out features that blend online sharing and shopping. The latest craze also is destined to run into some limitations. There’s early evidence that selling goods over live social networking works beyond the People’s Republic. Viewers enjoy interacting with celebrities and so-called influencers, but the ultimate goal is clicks to buy. Social sensation Nisrin, for one, has attracted 500,000 TikTok followers, while selling as much as 10,000 pounds ($12,313) of makeup and other products in a single video session. ByteDance-owned

To date, 161 of the 204 companies in our Retail/Restaurant Index have reported their earnings results for Q2 2022, representing 79% of the index. Of those companies that have reported their quarterly results so far, 74% announced that profits beat analysts’ expectations, while 2% delivered on-target results and 24% reported earnings that fell below estimates. The Q2 2022 blended earnings growth estimate now stands at -6.3%. The blended revenue growth estimate for the 204 companies in this index is 9.1% for Q2 2022. Of those companies that have reported their quarterly results so far, 60% announced revenue that exceeded analysts’

It’s a tough time to be left alone in retail. Store chains in the United States are facing weaker sales, overstocking and inflation. For Kohl’s, the $4.6 billion company weighing a potential takeover offer from Franchise Group, the pressure to accept a deal – even one that might once have seemed miserly – is rising. Consumers are spooked by rising inflation, and as a result so are retailers. The latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows monthly sales falling 0.3% in May. Prices, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures index, rose 6.3% in the year to May, according to the Commerce Department.

Due to inflation, several retailers are already dealing with higher cost of goods and services (COGS) – and dealing with the supply chain crisis. They just finished reporting Q3 earnings; 141 retailers have already discussed inflation worries, and 192 have mentioned the supply issues during their earnings calls. Consumers’ short-term inflation expectations rose again, with the median cost of living increase for next year pushing up from 5.7% to 6.0%. This increase is twice the pace of expectations for income growth, which slid to 2.8% from 3.0%, according to the New York Federal Reserve. As a result, the latest Ipsos

Black Friday is upon us again – the day after Thanksgiving. This year, Nov. 26 marks the official start to the holiday shopping season and a time when consumers hunt for the best deals. Macroeconomic headwinds loom, including inflation and supply chain issues. Inflation has caused consumer confidence to drop significantly in November as consumers worry about higher prices. For example, after 35 years in business, Dollar Tree raised prices on many of its products to more than one dollar — $1.25 on average. Consumers are more inclined to spend when they see a good deal and promotional discounts, especially

Seventy-three percent of companies in our Retail/Restaurant Index have reported Q3 2021 EPS. Of the 148 companies in the index that have reported earnings to date, 76% have reported earnings above analyst expectations, 1% matched and 23% reported earnings below analyst expectations. The Q3 2021 blended earnings growth estimate is 28.6%. The Q3 2021 blended revenue growth estimate is 14.3%. Sixty-six percent have reported revenue above analyst expectations, and 34% reported revenue below analyst expectations. EXHIBIT 1: Refinitiv Earnings Dashboard Source: I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv Retail earnings Walmart and Home Depot smashed their Q3 earnings, revenue and same store sales