Many major American retailers showed they were able to recover from a slow start to December shopping, according to sales results reported on Thursday.
Despite early indications that the holiday season would be lackluster, the 17 chains tracked by Thomson Reuters reported a 4.5 percent increase in sales at stores open at least a year in the month, above the 3.3 percent gain analysts expected.
However, Target, the nation’s second-biggest retailer after Walmart, which does not report monthly sales, said its December sales were flat.
And retailers used discounts to get that December revenue, which may hurt stores when they report fourth-quarter profit. “Sales came late in the holiday shopping season and, as a result, were at deeper discounts than planned,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chief executive and chairman. He said the company would take further markdowns as it gets ready for spring.
The stores reporting sales Thursday ranged from apparel retailers to department stores, though some large retailers such as J.C. Penney and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as Walmart, do not report monthly.
Analysts noted a rush of last-minute promotions after slow business in early December. “We’ve noticed significant promotions at retailers looking to recover pre-holiday sales, and fewer promotions at retailers we believe have performed well,” Oliver Chen, a Citigroup analyst, in a research note.
ShopperTrak, which counts shoppers at the nation’s malls, reported that traffic picked up in the final week before Christmas. Still, in December it lowered its sales forecast for November and December to a 2.5 percent gain over last year, down from the 3.3 percent it had given previously.
Another reading on the holiday season was also tepid. MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, which estimates over all consumer spending, said last week that holiday-related sales rose 0.7 percent from the end of October through Christmas Eve, the smallest increase since 2008. Last year, sales were up 2 percent.
Most of the department stores reporting results Thursday beat analyst expectations.
Nordstrom’s same-store sales were up 8.6 percent, shooting past estimates of 3.4 percent. Kohl’s said its same-store sales rose 3.4 percent, above analyst estimates of 1.2 percent, but below Kohl’s internal expectations. Macy’s same-store sales were about in line with analyst expectations at 4.1 percent. Macy’s said fourth-quarter earnings would be in a lower range than it had previously announced, at $1.91 to $1.96 a share, down from $1.94 to $1.99.
Target, which heavily promotes the holiday season, said its same-store sales were flat compared to last December’s, while analysts had expected a 0.8 percent gain. Its much-hyped collection of designer holiday gifts, a partnership with Neiman Marcus, had been something of a bust, according to some analysts. The company said that the number pf same-store transactions fell, but the average amount spent per transaction rose, from last year, and that the food, health and beauty, apparel and home categories were up over last year.
“Strong results late in the month did not completely offset softness in the first three weeks,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
The discounter Costco did much better than expected, with a 9.0 percent same-store sales gain, above the 6.5 percent that analysts had projected.
Among apparel stores, the teen retailers Wet Seal and Zumiez did particularly badly, posting decreases of 9.7 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively.
With drugstores included in the retail sales totals, the rise in December from a year ago was 2.3 percent, Thomson Reuters said. Drugstores are dealing with consumers switching to cheaper generic drugs.
Retailers Post 4.5% Increase in December Sales
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Retailers Post 4.5% Increase in December Sales
