What to Expect From Kohl’s Earnings

Last fall, Kohl’s launched two key national brands in its stores: Izod (for men) and Juicy Couture (for women). The company also implemented a nationwide roll-out for the new customer loyalty program it had been testing. Plus, in an important move to increase Internet sales, Kohl’s has been improving its e-commerce capabilities.

The company suffered a downgrade from Sterne Agee CRT after its last earnings report was not up to par. The analyst’s argument was that there is clearly a more challenged retail and consumer backdrop, and the path for same-store sales growth for 2015 and 2016 is less visible for Kohl’s. However, this earnings point could be a great time for the company to combat this call.

In this coming earnings report, the company will be looking for another sequential increase in same-store sales, but this time with the earnings to back it up.

So far in 2015, Kohl’s basically has matched the market, up to Tuesday’s close at $61.41. Shares are only up about 2% year to date, but they are up 13% in the past 52 weeks.

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A few analysts weighed in on Kohl’s before the company reported earnings:

• Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating but lowered the price target to $72 from $82.
• Sterne Agee CRT has a Neutral rating with a $64 price target.
• Deutsche Bank reiterated a Hold rating with a $67 price target.

Other key retailers are reporting later on Thursday and Friday as well, such as J.C. Penney and Nordstrom; Macy’s has already reported.

Shares of Kohl’s were up 0.4% at $61.68 on Wednesday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $72.05 and a 52-week trading range of $53.86 to $79.60.