What happened
Shares of Macy's (M +0.12%) were trading lower on Monday, after an analyst revised his full-year earnings estimate sharply lower on concerns about the company's likely performance in the second half of 2020.
As of 1:30 p.m. EDT, Macy's shares were down about 3.9% from Friday's closing price.
So what
In a note on Monday, Cleveland Research analyst Rusty Wilson cut his full-year earnings per share (EPS) estimate for Macy's from a profit of $0.16 per share to a loss of $1.50 per share, while maintaining the equivalent of a sell rating on its shares.
Image source: Macy's.
Wilson said that his checks suggested that Macy's sales slowed further in April than expected, which could have impacted the company's first-quarter gross margin and widened its loss.
Looking further ahead, Wilson is also concerned about reports that the company has cut orders for later in 2020, and that it may be planning to accelerate its plan to permanently close some stores. He wrote that the combination will likely bring Macy's second-half year-over-year comparisons lower than currently expected, even if stores are able to reopen as planned.
Macy's closed all of its brick-and-mortar stores on March 17, but it has kept its online storefront open. It began reopening stores today, and hopes to have all of its stores open by mid-June.
Now what
Department-store investors will probably have to wait a bit longer to get clarity from Macy's leadership team on its plans and prospects for later in 2020. Macy's is expected to report earnings for its fiscal first quarter, which ended on May 2, by the end of this month.
