COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
VFC - 2Q14 Earnings
Takeaway: Two key callouts from the print this morning. 1) International growth rate continues to accelerate sequentially on both the one and two year trend line. European constant currency growth rate up 900bps YY. 2) SIGMA - gross margin came in 80bps below expectations, but inventories look much cleaner heading out of 2Q compared to 1Q. A much better set up for VFC heading into the balance of the year.
TGT, AMZN - Amazon Has the Best Consumer Perception of Any Brand Mid-year, rankings show Target hit hard by data breach
(http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/amazon-has-best-consumer-perception-any-brand-158945)
- "The retailer last year was the No. 7 best-perceived brand among consumers, but not only did it fall off the top 10 list, it plummeted all the way down to No. 21."
Takeaway: This survey ask respondents whether they've heard anything about the brand in the past 2 weeks, and if so was it positive or negative. TGT has been no stranger to headlines over the past 8 months, and the data breach continues to affect shopper perception of the brand. The reality is that when a customer has a great experience in retail, they tell a friend. When a customer has a customer has a bad experience, they tell 20. Just ask JCP or LULU. Some of these 'fire your customer' events are worse than others, but there's one commonality - they take a very long time to recover.
OTHER NEWS
Alibaba IPO Seen Possible in Sept.
- "Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is now said to be envisioning an initial public offering in September."
- "The company on Friday, in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, valued itself at $130 billion, up from the $117 billion valuation in late June."
APP - American Apparel Shareholders Seek Resignation of Board Members
- "On the eve of the company’s naming five new directors to its board — the confirmation is expected as early as next week, according to sources — a hedge fund has demanded the resignation of the firm’s two co-chairman, David Danziger and Allan Mayer."
Back-to-school/college spending shows slight year-over-year improvement
- "Families this summer will spend slightly more on back-to-school items than they did in 2013. According to NRF’s 2014 Back-to-School Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average family with children in grades K-12 will spend $669.28 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics, up 5% from $634.78 in 2013."
- "Total spending on back to school will drop slightly to $26.5 billion as the survey found there are slightly fewer students in households this summer."
House votes to expand tax break for store remodels
(http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/house-votes-expand-tax-break-store-remodels)
- "The House has passed legislation broadening a federal tax law that makes it cheaper for retailers to remodel their stores, the National Retail Federation said."
- "Lawmakers voted 258-160 today to make 'bonus depreciation' permanent, and granted NRF’s request that it be expanded to include stores that are owned rather than just those that are leased. The measure now heads to the Senate."