Kohl’s Stock Hits Another 52-Week Low: Retail Sentiment Sours

synopsis

Shares of retailer Kohl’s Corp ($KSS) hit a 52-week low on Tuesday even as the company announced it would close 27 of its “underperforming stores” in April, dampening retail sentiment.

Kohl shares have dipped 10% in the past five days and have lost nearly half of their value in the past year.

In a statement from earlier this week, Kohl’s said it will also close its San Bernardino E-commerce Fulfillment Center in May when its lease expires , in addition to the closing of the 27 stores.

"We always take these decisions very seriously,"Tom Kingsbury, Kohl’s CEO said in the release. "As we continue to build on our long-term growth strategy, it is important that we also take difficult but necessary actions to support the health and future of our business for our customers and our teams."

Sentiment on Stocktwits turned ‘bearish’ from ‘bullish’ a week ago. Message volumes rose to ‘extremely high’ from ‘high.’

KSS sentiment meter and message volumes on Jan 14

Some Stocktwits users were speculating if the company was a potential buyout candidate, given its recent moves.

Kohl’s currently has more more than 1,150 locations, according to its statement.  

Kohl’s third-quarter earnings last month fell short of Wall Street estimates recently as it witnessed weak sales in apparel and footwear businesses. Its net sales decreased 8.8% and comparable sales decreased 9.3%.

Short interest in the retailer was fairly significant at 45.60% as of Tuesday, according to Stocktwits data.

The company is expected to report fourth-quarter results in March.

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