Kohl's Q2 Earnings To Likely Miss Last Year's Results, Says Analyst

Kohl’s Corporation KSS is expected to fall short of year-over-year earnings when it releases second-quarter earnings before Wednesday’s opening bell.

Telsey Advisory Group said in an Aug. 21 note that it expects Kohl’s to post earnings per share of $0.48 and $3.61 billion in revenue for the second quarter, compared to analyst consensus of $0.45 EPS and $3.583 billion in revenue for the quarter.

A year ago, Kohl’s reported EPS of $0.52 and $3.678 billion for the same period in 2023.

Since the beginning of 2024, Kohl’s stock has declined almost 30%. It has had a volatile morning and is down 0.45% at $19.78 at publication Tuesday afternoon.

The company’s board of directors still declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share on its common stock, despite the fall in its share price since January.

Kohl executives should offer some initial commentary on the back-to-school season during Wednesday’s earnings call, analyst Dana Telsey wrote in the Aug. 21 note.

“KSS kicked off its back-to-school season this year with new brands, trend-right apparel and essentials, with many staples under $20,” she said.

“New brands such as Limited Too, Aeropostale and an expanded assortment from Madden Girl are launching, while storage and decor are also in focus for college students.”

Read Also: Kohl’s Q4 Highlights: Earnings Beat, Sales Dip, Expanding Margins & More

She also said Kohl’s offered savings events through July and August, in addition to regular redemption of Kohl’s Cash
and other rewards.

“With July and most of August in the rearview at the time of next week’s earnings call, we anticipate some commentary on how the BTS [back-to-school] season has materialized and how the consumer has fared.”

Tesley also said that Kohl’s keeps trying to rebalance its assortment to improve the apparel and footwear categories.

“Recall that the company plans to deliver more fashion and newness, as it has admittedly become too narrowly focused on active and casual,” she said.

“In women's (full price sales up 3% last quarter), the company continues to build upon its momentum in dresses, as shoppers respond to newness, expanding its in-store dress shops to 700 locations, with plans to also broaden the category
offerings in the second quarter.”

Kohl’s also plans to focus more on "polished casual" brands such as Lauren Conrad and Simply Vera Wang.

The company announced on Aug. 1 that it plans to offer Babies ‘R’ US merchandise at 200 stores this fall.

For this year’s first quarter, Kohl’s posted net loss of $17 million versus $14 million in net income for the same period in 2023. Second-quarter net sales decreased 5.3% to $3.2 billion.

Read Now:

• Target’s Q2 Beat Fuels Analyst Optimism With Strong Outlook, Strategic Initiatives

Photo: Sundry Photos via Shutterstock