The retail industry could be headed for a tough holiday season. Here's a roundup of 3 companies that just cut their profit outlooks.
- Slashed full-year profit outlooks are weighing on retail stocks ahead of the important holiday season.
- After disappointing earnings reports this week, the S&P 500 Retail Index is down 4%.
- The slide was led by double-digit drops in Macy's and Kohl's.
- Here are three companies that cut profit expectations for the rest of the year, and how it has affected their stock prices.
- Read more on Business Insider.
Big third-quarter earnings misses by retailers over the last week are dragging on the entire retail industry before the holiday season.
Double-digit stock price slides from Macy's and Kohl's weighed on the S&P 500 Retail Index, which lost as much as 4% this week. The S&P 500 index has only fallen as much as 0.2% in the same period.
Weak sales, disappointing earnings, and lowered full-year profit forecasts led declines. It was the second time this year that Kohl's and Home Depot have lowered earnings expectations, which is not a good sign going into the holidays, the busiest and most important season for retailers.
In 2018, the holiday season contributed to a strong end of the year for retailers such as Target, Lululemon, American Eagle, and Kohl's. But the year-end boost hasn't totally translated into success in 2019 - companies such as Sears, Kmart, and Walmart have had to shut stores in the ongoing retail apocalypse.
Not all recent earnings have disappointed. Retailers Target, Gap, and Walmart posted third-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations.
But, those reports and subsequent stock gains weren't enough to lift the struggling industry as a whole. The S&P 500 Retail Index has gained only slightly more than 5% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 has gained nearly 24%.
Here are the key numbers from three companies that lowered full-year profit outlooks, and how much the stock has been affected: