April Sales Winners and Losers

by 

April sales numbers were released this morning, and results were mixed. Some of the biggest names in the U.S. retail market fell short of expectations – a few of them by a wide margin. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, with several companies showing significant progress from a year ago.

Here are the biggest “winners” and “losers” among publicly traded companies from today’s April sales report:

 Winners

  • Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN): The high-end retailer reported a 7.1% improvement in its April sales, outpacing the 5.8% growth analysts were expecting.
  • Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD): The owner and operator of several big-name retail stores including Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret after same-stores sales gained 6%, beating expectations of 4%. As a result, the stock jumped 2.5% to a new 52-week high of $51.71 a share today.
  • Zumiez (Nasdaq: ZUMZ): The teen retailer reported a 10% rise in same-store sales versus analyst estimates of 6.8% year-to-year growth. The stock is up 1.8% as a result.

Losers

  • Macy’s (NYSE: M): Same-store sales at the New York-based department store were up only 1.2% from a year ago, trailing the 1.9% improvement analysts had projected. Macy’s officials blamed the sluggish sales on an earlier Easter cutting down on the number of pre-holiday shopping days in April.
  • Target (NYSE: TGT): Target’s same-store sales were even more underwhelming than Macy’s. April sales rose 1.1%, well short of the 2.8% improvement that was expected. The miss sent shares tumbling 2.5% today.
  • Costco (Nasdaq: COST): The wholesale giant posted steady 4% sales growth, but that was shy of the 4.9% analyst estimates. It marks the second straight month that Costco has missed sales projections, and sent the stock tumbling 2.8% in trading today.
To top