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Kohl’s shares are soaring againand this time its not just a meme stock. The department store chain’s shared surged on Wednesday as the company raised its full year financial outlook and topped expectations despite sales decline. The company’s shares saw uptick in mid-July, as it caught the attention of the r/wallstreetbets Reddit thread, doubling the stock price and joining the meme stock rally that month. Following Wednesday’s earnings announcement, Kohls shares jumped by 27% in pre-market trading and share are up 17% at the time of publishing. Kohl’s beat its quarterly earning estimate, coming out at $0.56 in contrast to the $0.33 Zacks Consensus Estimate. Additionally, the company saw a slight uptick in revenue, coming out at $3.35 billion compared to the $3.32 billion estimate by LSEG analysts. Despite the favorable outlook, Kohl’s still saw a decrease in sales, with a 5.1% year-over-year decline. “Our team remains focused on delivering progressive improvement throughout the remainder of the year against a challenging economic backdrop,” Kohl’s interim CEO Michael Bender said in the earnings report. Getting back on their feet The company’s solid quarter can be largely attributed to its turnaround efforts and major cost cutting measures, including store closures and workforce reductions. Earlier this year, the department store closed 27 stores across the country, and saw a 10% reduction of its corporate workforce. The company’s turnaround efforts include a reassessment of its assortment of products, as well as introducing more coupons for branded items. “We were able to expand our gross margins, reduce our inventory, and lower our expenses, leading to solid second quarter earnings,” Bender said. Bender’s leadership followed the termination of former Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan earlier this year, becoming the third CEO in three years. Buchanan, who held the job for nearly four months, stepped down due to involvement in an investigation surrounding vendor transactions with undisclosed conflicts of interest. “Kohls second quarter performance is a testament to the progress we are making against our 2025 initiatives,” Bender said. “This resulted in sales performance that came in ahead of our expectations.”
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E-Commerce
Lego is bigger than ever, and it has adults (and IP) to thank. The Lego Group says it released 314 Lego sets in the first six months of 2025a company recordand announced record revenue of 34.6 billion kroner, or about $5.4 billion, which is a 12% jump year-over-year. CEO Niels B. Christiansen attributed the growth in a statement to “our large and innovative range of products that continues to be relevant across ages and interests.” The Danish toy company couldn’t have released so many sets in such a short time span without diversifying its product offerings. Lego isn’t just for kids anymore, nor are it limited to the toy bin. They’re suitable for hanging on your wall and displaying on a bookshelf. Lego CEO Niels B. Christiansen [Photo: Lego] The company has found new fans with more complex sets that cater to adults based around topics like art and architecture, along with ongoing licenses for sets based on outside intellectual property like Stars Wars, Harry Potter, and Marvel that give Lego access to pre-existing built-in audiences. Rather than simply growing its market share, Lego is growing its market. The company says its bestsellers include a blend of owned and licensed products. Lego Botanicals, the brand’s floral sets that come with in bouquets or in pots, sold well in the spring for Valentines Day and Mothers Day, while new partnerships with Formula 1 and Bluey, plus a Pokémon collaboration coming next year, are evidence that licensing remains a top priority. As an analog, device-free toy, Lego benefits especially in the U.S. from a consumer desire for less screen time. Despite its movies, Lego is ultimately selling consumers a physical toy you play with. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found about four in 10 teens say they spend too much time on their phones, and 47% of their parents said the same thing about their phones. Lego now has sets for both groups.
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E-Commerce
Shares of American Eagle rose Wednesday after football star Travis Kelce announced a partnership with the apparel brand, just one day after news of his proposal and engagement to singer Taylor Swift went viral on the internet. Kelce, an NFL player and tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, has been dating Swift for the past two yearsand is often photographed next to the pop star in bold, colorful outfits. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. stock (AEO) was up over 8% in midday trading on Wednesday. The collaboration is a limited-edition partnership between Kelce’s Tru Kolors sportswear and lifestyle brand. More than a year in the making, AE x Tru Kolors by Travis Kelce pairs the popular clothing brand with one of the most recognizable faces in football and entertainment. The collaboration includes vintage T-shirts, reimagined varsity jackets, cricket sweaters, rugby polos and utility cargos pants. It was an awesome opportunity to team up with an established brand where both sides were excited to truly collaborate on every decision in the design and creative process, Kelce, who is the creative director of the collection, said in a statement. Travis Kelce partnership follows Sydney Sweeney campaign American Eagle’s partnership with Travis Kelce comes on the heels of its highly publicized and controversial recent advertising campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney. In that ad, Sweeney says”Jeans are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color . . . My jeans are blue,” followed by the tagline: Sydney Sweeney has great jeans. The ad has been criticized for the double meaning of the word “jeans” as “genes.” The implication that blonde hair and blue eyes represent superior genes is an example of Nazi eugenics at worst, and at best, is in bad taste. American Eagle by the numbers American Eagle Outfitters’ most recent quarterly results cover the companys fiscal 2025 Q2, which ended on June 30. The company delivered mixed earnings with revenue coming in $10 million short at $1.14 billion, instead of $1.15 billion as analysts expected. Earnings per share (EPS) came in higher at $0.34 (over estimates by $.06). The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion at the time of this writing.
Category:
E-Commerce
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