Macy’s shares fall the most in 31 weeks on Wednesday, second-quarter earnings fall short of estimates, full-year forecast revised down

Macy’s Incs second-quarter earnings, reported on Wednesday, fell short of Wall Street estimates for the first time in two years, which sent its shares to lows not seen since early February 2010.

The company also revised down its full-year forecast for adjusted profit, after it had introduced heavy discounts to clear spring inventory.

Macy’s shares closed lower for the seventh time in the past eleven trading sessions in New York on Wednesday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since January 10th. The stock went down 13.22% ($2.56) to $16.80, after touching an intraday low at $15.82, or a price level not seen since February 5th 2010 ($15.80).

Shares of Macy’s Inc have retreated 43.59% so far in 2019 compared with a 13.31% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Macy’s stock went up 18.22%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Net sales went down 0.47% year-on-year to $5.546 billion during the second quarter, in line with market consensus.

Macy’s comparable sales grew 0.2% year-on-year on an owned basis and 0.3% on an owned plus licensed basis during the second quarter.

Meanwhile, net income attributable to shareholders registered a 48% year-on-year drop to $86 million ($0.28 per share) during the second quarter, which ended on August 3rd. In comparison, analysts on average had expected adjusted earnings of $0.45 per share.

“We had a slow start to the quarter and finished below our expectations,” Jeff Gennette, Macy’s Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

The department store operator said it now expected full-year adjusted earnings within the range of $2.85 per share to $3.05 per share, or a revision down from a previously expected range of $3.05 per share to $3.25 per share.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 15 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Macy’s Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $21.00, with a high estimate of $30.00 and a low estimate of $14.00. The median estimate represents a 25.00% upside compared to the closing price of $16.80 on August 14th.

The same media also reported that at least 9 out of 16 surveyed investment analysts had rated Macy’s Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 2 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, other 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.