Winter Holidays

Kohl’s joins a growing list of retailers whose first-quarter results took a hit from a severe and extended winter. Despite missing estimates, the company is staying firm on its guidance for the full fiscal year.

By Evan Gold, VP of client services, Planalytics

The winter of 2014 brought record cold and snow throughout North America and its impact on business and consumer spending were widespread and significant. How impactful was it? Well, for the S&P 500 companies, the word “weather” was mentioned in almost 200 earnings calls from January through March, which is a 81% increase compared to last year.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores posted disappointing results for its first quarter, with earnings down 5% as harsh winter weather kept shoppers away. The company also gave a weak earnings forecast for its current quarter that fell short of analysts' estimates.

For the period ended April 30, Wal-Mart earned $3.59 billion, compared with $3.78 billion a year ago, less than analysts expected. In addition to the unusually harsh winter weather, a higher-than-expected tax rate also hurt earnings, the retailer said.

At a time when sluggish-to-modest industry numbers have seemingly become the norm, and a protracted economic recovery inches forward, the recent spate of seemingly good retail and economic news has industry analysts and observers like myself raising a collective eyebrow.

The nation’s leading department store retailer overcame weak first quarter sales to muster a 3.2% profit improvement and expressed confidence in its performance the remainder of the year.

The company’s first quarter earnings per share of 60 cents was a penny better than analysts forecast and a 9% improvement from prior year earnings of 55 cents. However, sales declined 1.7% to nearly $6.3 billion while same store sales, excluding sales from departments licensed to third parties, fell 1.6%.

New York – Macy’s Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with profits of $224 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, up 3.2% from $217 million in the same quarter the prior year.

Earnings rose even as sales fell 1.7% to $6.38 billion, from $6.39 billion. Same-store sales declined 0.8%. Increased operating income and decreased cost of sales helped boost net income, while severe winter weather took a toll on sales.

Ace Hardware president and CEO John Venhuizen called the company’s first quarter the "best for both revenues and net income in its 90-year history," thanks to strong performance in its core categories.

The co-op reported total revenues of $1.1 billion for the first quarter, up 16.8% from the same quarter last year. Net income was $24.4 million, up from $4.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Those of us who’ve been around retail for a while remember the shutdown that brought West Coast port operations to a halt in the fall of 2002.