Friday's Market Minute: Retail Earnings Highlight Next Week

Tuesday starts the big box retail earnings kickoff with Walmart WMT and Home Depot HD before the market open. According to Zacks, Walmart has had strong earnings surprises for three of the last four quarters, with an average upside of 14.32%. It makes one wonder if they have something up their sleeve for this quarter. Walmart+ recently teamed up with American Express, where American Express U.S. Consumer Platinum Card members who use their card to purchase a Walmart+ membership, will receive a monthly credit for the membership. Walmart+ benefits include free shipping. Home Depot had a positive earnings surprise of 2.26% last quarter, the smallest of the last four quarters. Will it eke out another earnings surprise this quarter, or will the diminishing trend take it down to consensus?

Wednesday, we get Lowe’s LOW, Target TGT, and TJX Companies TJX. Lowe’s has had varying positive earnings surprises for the last four quarters, ranging from 0.51% to 24.42%, making forecasting anyone’s guess.

Thursday, we get numbers from department stores Macy’s M and Kohl’s KSS before the market open. Macy’s target audience is a younger demographic of middle-class women between the ages of 16 and 34, whereas Kohl’s target customers are medium income, married consumers over 30. We’ll see who has more disposable income to vote with.

It should be an interesting retail week as we also get October U.S. retail sales numbers Tuesday. This may give us a good picture of the consumer going into the holiday season.

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