Data & Analytics

Abercrombie & Fitch on Thursday posted a much smaller than expected second quarter loss and better than expected sales amid strong demand for its Hollister brand.    The company reported a net loss of $15.5 million, or $.23 per share, for the quarter ended July 29, compared to $13.1 million, or $.19 per share last year. Excluding certain one-time items, Abercrombie posted a net loss of $11.0 million, or $.16 per share, compared to $16.8 million last year. Analysts on average had expected a loss of $.33.  

That didn't take very long.    Amazon said on Thursday — the day after the Federal Trade Commission gave the green light to the deal — that its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market will close on Monday Aug. 28. Starting that same day, Whole Foods will offer lower prices on select products. And with time, Amazon will place lockers in Whole Food stores, and make Amazon Prime the grocer's customer rewards program.   

Dollar Tree turned in a strong quarterly performance that blew past profit and sales forecasts as consumers' love affair with dollar stores shows no signs of abating.    Net income rose to $233.8 million, or 98 cents per share, in the second quarter ended July 29, from $170.2 million, or 72 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, Dollar Tree earned 99 cents per share, beating the analysts' estimate of 87 cents per share.  

As much as Sears deserves credit for the various actions it has been taking to shore up the company, there is no denying that this (Sears second quarter financials) is a miserable set of numbers. Indeed, the precipitous drop in comparable sales and the continued lack of progress on profit suggests the company isn't moving far or fast enough to ensure its long-term survival.  

Uber riders nationwide can now earn credits for shopping and dining under a rewards program with Visa.   The program, Visa Local Offers with Uber, launched last year in the San Francisco and Los Angeles markets. It has been relaunched to be made available to Uber riders across the country. The program is open to Uber riders with an eligible U.S.-issued Visa card on file in the Uber app.  

Walmart is determined not to cede any ground to Amazon.   In a partnership that takes direct aim at the online giant and its Alexa voice-controlled device, Walmart is teaming up with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items available for voice shopping via Google Assistant, the search giant's online shopping platform that lives on its smart speaker Google Home and other smart devices. It will be the largest number of items currently offered by a retailer through the platform, according to Walmart.   

Everything you know about the battle between online and physical retail is probably wrong, according to a report issued this week by CBRE.   As business analysts and retail pundits focus on store closings, they miss the fact that 58% of retail warehouse space was leased by brick-and-mortar retailers last. Only a third of such space was leased by pure-play internet sellers.  

Fashion retailer Express topped analysts' second quarter sales and earnings estimates amid surging e-commerce growth.   Express had a net loss of $11.8 million, or 15 cents a share, in the quarter, compared to net income of $10.1 million, or 13 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 1 cent, better than the consensus for a loss of 1 cent.