Walmart U.S. Q2 comp sales +9.3% / Ecom +97% / Sam’s Club comp sales +13.3% / Int’l net sales -6.8% Press release

 

…Walmart beats profit estimates as online sales hit record on pandemic boost at Reuters. “Gross margins rose to 24.9% in the quarter edging past expectations of 24.24%…Analysts had estimated a (U.S. comp sales) gain of 5.73% (vs. 9.3% actual), according to IBES data from Refinitiv.” Read more

 

Home Depot Q2 comp sales +23.4% Press release

 

…Path to Home Depot becomes familiar for millions in pandemic at AP. “Overall revenue hit $38.05 billion, far exceeding the $34.94 billion Wall Street was expecting…The overall comparable-store sales were almost twice the 12.2% increase that industry analysts had projected.” Read more

 

…Home Depot sounds cautious tone on conference call “Home Depot execs sounded some caution during today’s earnings call, noting that Q2 trends can’t be extrapolated for the balance of the year, although for the first two weeks of Q3 the comparable sales trend held.” Seeking Alpha

 

Kohl’s Q2 net sales down 22.9% Press release

 

…Kohl’s paints grim picture of holiday shopping as pandemic hits sales, shares tank at CNBC. “(CEO Gass) said the company is planning “conservatively” for the remainder of 2020. Management added the back-to-school season at Kohl’s has started “soft,” with many parents still unclear about how and when their children will be returning to classrooms again.” Read more

 

Advance Auto Parts Q2 comp sales +7.5% Press release

 

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US home construction surges 22.6%, third monthly increase at AP. “The big gains came from the construction of apartments and condominiums, which soared 56.7%. But single-family home construction ticked up, too, by 8.2%. Construction rose all over — 35.3% in the Northeast, 33.2% in the South, 5.8% in both the Midwest and the West.” Read more

 

Amazon Bets on Office-Based Work With Expansion in Major Cities at Wall Street Journal. “Amazon is preparing to add 3,500 corporate jobs across hubs in New York, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Detroit and Dallas, the company said Tuesday. The plans include 2,000 jobs at the historic building in Manhattan that once housed the Lord & Taylor flagship department store.” WSJ subs.

 

Shoe Seller Payless Attempts a Comeback at Wall Street Journal. “The company, which emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January and is now called Payless Worldwide, is relaunching its website on Tuesday and plans to open as many as 400 stores in North America over the next five years, with the first location slated for Miami this fall.” WSJ subs.

 

Up-for-sale British grocer Asda targets online expansion at Reuters. “Asda, the British supermarket arm of the world’s biggest retailer Walmart, said it would expand weekly delivery capacity to one million slots next year to meet the demand for online grocery shopping spurred by the COVID-19 crisis.” Read more

 

Work-from-home boom is a bust for big office furniture makers at Reuters. “Steelcase, the largest U.S. office furniture maker, and Herman Miller, the No. 2 producer, both reported steep losses and double-digit sales declines in the three months ending in May. For Steelcase, sales of about $483 million were the lowest since its initial public offering in 1998.” Read more

 

Kroger releases its 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance Report

 

Court tosses Tiffany’s $21M judgment against Costco over fake ‘Tiffany’ rings at NY Post. “In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it agreed with Costco that its use of the word “Tiffany” was unlikely to confuse customers, and that Costco was entitled in good faith to describe the style of its rings even if confusion were likely.” Read more

 

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