Macy's stock, once left for dead, is roaring back to life
In spring 2020, in the depths of coronavirus lockdowns, investors couldn't dump Macy's (M) stock fast enough. Shares fell as low as $4.38 apiece.
That was then. On Thursday, Macy's stock jumped 21% after the company reported better-than-expected earnings. That brought gains so far this year to more than 230%. A share now costs $37.37.
What's happening: Once out of favor as mall closures rose and coronavirus restrictions kept people at home, department stores are finding love again on Wall Street.
Kohl's (KSS) shares popped 11% on Thursday after it reported earnings. The stock has rallied 54% this year. Shares of Dillard's (DDS) have shot up more than 480%.
What gives? First, consumer spending has surged. Shoppers say they're worried about inflation, but continue to shell out for items they held off buying last year.
Macy's — the largest US department store chain — reported revenue up 36% year-over-year. Shoppers snapped up tailored suits, luggage and dresses.
"The consumer is healthy, and we expect the strong demand to continue, particularly as people return to work," finance chief Adrian Mitchell told analysts.
Bank of America reports that spending on credit and debit cards in the week ending Nov. 13 rose 23% compared with the same period in 2019. Some of that increase is due to higher prices, according to the bank's analysts.
Macy's started planning for supply chain disruptions late last year, Cowen analyst Oliver Chen noted. That puts it in a good position to take advantage of holiday shopping this year.
Department stores have also shuttered locations that weren't performing well in recent years. Research firm CoStar said that retailers announced plans to shut more than 11,100 stores in 2020, an all-time high.
In February 2020, Macy's said it would close 125 stores by 2023.
One more thing: Investors are coming around to Macy's digital strategy. Online sales jumped 49% last quarter compared to 2019.
Chen noted that the company is making "significant investments" in its app.
Macy's also plans to launch a digital marketplace in the second half of 2022 which will include third-party sellers. The announcement comes as the company faces pressure from an activist investor to spin off its e-commerce business, as Saks Fifth Avenue did.
Not everyone is a convert. According to Refinitiv, just three Wall Street analysts have "buy" recommendations for Macy's stock, while nine are neutral and five are advising clients to sell.
In a note this week, Bank of America said that despite the solid quarter, it's still not bullish on Macy's "given our view that department stores face long-term structural issues."
Carmakers get serious about fighting chip shortages
Shortages of computer chips have been a nightmare for carmakers this year, forcing them to idle production at plants around the world and hindering their ability to meet a jump in demand for vehicles.
Now they've decided enough is enough; they're getting into the chip business themselves.
The latest: Ford (F) announced Thursday that it's partnering with GlobalFoundries, a chip manufacturer majority owned by Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund.
Together, the two companies plan to boost production capacity for Ford's lineup and conduct research on the semiconductors that will be crucial to the next generation of vehicles.
General Motors (GM) President Mark Reuss also said at an industry conference on Thursday that the company will team up with chipmakers like Qualcomm (QCOM) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to develop the chips it needs.
"We see the semiconductor requirements more than doubling over the next several years as the vehicles that we produce become more of a technology [platform]," Reuss said.
Remember: GM's revenue plunged nearly 25% last quarter despite record high car prices, while Ford said its automotive revenue fell 4% from a year ago. The difficulty in securing chips has been a major reason the companies have been sputtering.
That's pushing carmakers to assume greater control of their supply chains.
"It's critical that we create new ways of working with suppliers to give Ford — and America — greater independence in delivering the technologies and features our customers will most value in the future," Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement. "This agreement is just the beginning."
Workers are crying out for a four-day week
American workers are quitting in record numbers — 4.3 million in August, and another 4.4 million in September. Managers across industries are having trouble hiring, even as they raise wages and offer incentives.
But a new survey offers support for a not-so-radical but still uncommon solution, my CNN Business colleague Allison Morrow reports: the four-day workweek.
Researchers at Jefferies asked Americans ages 22 to 35 who had quit their jobs recently what their former bosses could have done to persuade them to stay. Thirty-two percent said they would have stuck around if they'd been offered a four-day work week. That was the second most-common answer, right behind the 43% who would have stayed for more money.
The study also found 80% of respondents support a four-day workweek.
The idea is hardly new, but has been gaining steam thanks to high levels of worker burnout in the wake of the pandemic. Over the summer, US lawmaker Mark Takano of California introduced legislation that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 — which codified the 40-hour model we now live with — to reduce the standard workweek to 32 hours.
Not just the rank-and-file: CEO turnover has also jumped, as overworked executives decide to shake up their careers, according to a study from recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles.
"Our belief is that it will only accelerate going into next year as people have delayed their retirements," Jeff Sanders, a co-managing partner at the company, told Reuters.
Up next
Foot Locker (FL) reports results before US markets open.
Also today: The US House of Representatives reconvenes as Democrats aim to pass President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion social safety net package.
Coming up: Investors are waiting for Biden to announce his decision for chair of the Federal Reserve. Will Jerome Powell get another term, or will the president opt for new leadership?
梅西百货的股票，曾经死了，正在咆哮着起死回生
2020 年春季，在冠状病毒封锁的最严重时期，投资者无法足够快地抛售梅西百货 (M) 的股票。股价一度跌至每股 4.38 美元。
那是那时。周四，梅西百货的股价在该公司公布好于预期的收益后上涨了 21%。这使今年迄今为止的收益超过了 230%。 A 股现在的价格为 37.37 美元。
正在发生的事情：随着商场关闭的增多和冠状病毒的限制使人们呆在家里，百货商店一度失宠，而百货商店又在华尔街找到了爱情。
Kohl's (KSS) 股价周四在公布财报后暴涨 11%。该股今年已上涨 54%。 Dillard's (DDS) 的股价上涨了 480% 以上。
是什么赋予了？首先，消费支出激增。购物者表示他们担心通货膨胀，但继续为去年推迟购买的商品买单。
梅西百货——美国最大的百货连锁店——报告收入同比增长 36%。购物者抢购量身定制的西装、行李箱和连衣裙。
“消费者是健康的，我们预计强劲的需求将继续，特别是随着人们重返工作岗位，”财务主管 Adrian Mitchell 告诉分析师。
美国银行报告称，截至 11 月 13 日的一周，信用卡和借记卡的支出与 2019 年同期相比增长了 23%。据该银行分析师称，部分增长是由于价格上涨。
Cowen 分析师 Oliver Chen 指出，梅西百货于去年年底开始计划供应链中断。这使它处于有利地位，可以利用今年的假日购物。
百货公司也关闭了近年来表现不佳的门店。研究公司 CoStar 表示，零售商宣布计划在 2020 年关闭 11,100 多家门店，创历史新高。
2020 年 2 月，梅西百货表示将在 2023 年之前关闭 125 家门店。
还有一件事：投资者正在转向梅西百货的数字战略。与 2019 年相比，上个季度的在线销售额增长了 49%。
陈指出，该公司正在对其应用程序进行“重大投资”。
梅西百货还计划在 2022 年下半年推出一个包括第三方卖家在内的数字市场。该公告发布之际，该公司正面临激进投资者的压力，要求其剥离其电子商务业务，就像 Saks Fifth Avenue 所做的那样。
不是每个人都是皈依者。根据 Refinitiv 的数据，只有三位华尔街分析师对梅西百货的股票提出“买入”建议，而九位分析师持中立态度，五位建议客户卖出。
在本周的一份报告中，美国银行表示，尽管季度表现稳健，但“鉴于我们认为百货公司面临长期结构性问题”，它仍然不看好梅西百货。
汽车制造商认真对待芯片短缺问题
今年，计算机芯片短缺一直是汽车制造商的噩梦，迫使他们在世界各地的工厂停产，并阻碍他们满足汽车需求激增的能力。
现在他们已经决定够了；他们自己也涉足芯片业务。
最新消息：福特 (F) 周四宣布与 GlobalFoundries 合作，后者是阿布扎比主权财富基金拥有多数股权的芯片制造商。
两家公司计划共同提高福特产品线的生产能力，并对对下一代汽车至关重要的半导体进行研究。
通用汽车 (GM) 总裁马克·罗伊斯 (Mark Reuss) 周四还在一次行业会议上表示，该公司将与高通 (QCOM) 和台积电等芯片制造商合作开发其所需的芯片。
“随着我们生产的车辆越来越成为一种技术[平台]，我们认为半导体需求将在未来几年翻一番以上，”Reuss 说。
请记住：尽管汽车价格创历史新高，但通用汽车上个季度的收入下降了近 25%，而福特表示，其汽车收入比一年前下降了 4%。确保芯片安全的困难一直是这些公司一直在努力的一个主要原因。
这促使汽车制造商对其供应链进行更大的控制。
福特首席执行官吉姆法利在一份声明中表示：“我们必须创造与供应商合作的新方式，让福特和美国在提供客户未来最看重的技术和功能方面具有更大的独立性。” “这个协议只是一个开始。”
工人们为一周工作四天而呼喊
美国工人辞职的人数创历史新高——8 月份为 430 万，9 月份又增加了 440 万。各行各业的经理在招聘时都遇到了困难，即使他们提高了工资并提供了激励措施。
但是，我的 CNN 业务同事艾莉森·莫罗 (Allison Morrow) 报告说，一项新调查为一种不那么激进但仍然不常见的解决方案提供了支持：每周工作四天。
Jefferies 的研究人员询问了最近辞职的 22 至 35 岁的美国人，他们的前任老板本可以做些什么来说服他们留下来。 32% 的人表示，如果他们每周工作四天，他们会坚持下去。这是第二个最常见的答案，仅次于 43% 会为了更多钱而留下来的人。
该研究还发现，80% 的受访者支持每周工作四天。
这个想法并不是什么新鲜事，但由于大流行之后工人的高度倦怠，这个想法一直在流行。今年夏天，加利福尼亚州的美国立法者马克·高野 (Mark Takano) 提出了一项立法，该法案将修订 1938 年的《公平劳动标准法案》——该法案将我们现在所采用的 40 小时模式编成法典——将标准的每周工作时间减少到 32 小时。
招聘公司 Heidrick & Struggles 的一项研究显示，不只是普通员工：CEO 更替率也大幅上升，因为过度工作的高管决定改变自己的职业生涯。
“我们相信，随着人们推迟退休，它只会加速进入明年，”该公司的联合管理合伙人杰夫桑德斯告诉路透社。
下一个
Foot Locker (FL) 在美国市场开盘前报告结果。
同样在今天：美国众议院重新召开会议，民主党旨在通过总统乔·拜登 (Joe Biden) 的 1.9 万亿美元社会安全网计划。
即将到来：投资者正在等待拜登宣布他担任美联储主席的决定。杰罗姆鲍威尔会连任，还是总统会选择新的领导层？
