Get Ready For Retailer Execs To Blame Easter For Poor Earnings

Retail executives love to play the blame game, so much so that they often try to convince investors poor performance is due — justified or not — to poor weather. If that doesn't work, executives turn to the politics card and attribute poor sales to the political environment; the presidential election, specifically, has been a target of blame recently.

This year, executives have a new excuse: the late start to Easter.

According to a CNBC report, dozens of companies reference their Easter performance in their quarterly conference call. The problem is Easter falls on April 16 this year after falling in March in prior years. As such, executives "will be sure to throw the Easter bunny under the bus."

Legitimate Excuse?

The CNBC report did suggest that several companies can legitimately blame poor results due to the shift in Easter's date to April. For instance, McCormick & Company, Incorporated MKC, the maker of spices, seasoning mixes and other food related products, explained that its business demographics have substantial Hispanic customer exposure. As many Hispanics are Catholic, the later Easter made all of Lent fall outside of the first quarter — perhaps influencing spending trends.

On the other hand, Tractor Supply Company TSCO considers an earlier Easter holiday a positive. Specifically, the holiday signals to the market that it is "time to get out and work the fields."

While there is plenty of logic behind McCormick and Tractor Supply's comments, it is questionable why a company like Walt Disney Co DIS told investors in February that the Easter shift into April will cost the company $50 million in operating income.

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