Kohl’s Stock In Spotlight On CEO Shuffle Ahead Of Q3 Earnings Report: Retail Chatter Hits 8-Month High

Omni-channel retailer Kohl’s ($KSS) has announced that its CEO, Tom Kingsbury, will be stepping down on Jan. 15, with retail veteran Ashley Buchanan taking over the reins.

Kingsbury will stay on in an advisory role to the new chief executive and will retain his position on the board through his retirement in May 2025, after which the size of the board will be reduced by one.

Kingsbury joined the board of Kohl’s in 2021 and stepped up as interim CEO in 2022. Later, he agreed to take the permanent position as CEO through May 2025.

This is reportedly the firm’s third CEO since 2018. Buchanan has been the CEO and President of Michaels Companies since 2020 and prior to that, has held various executive roles at Walmart, Sam's Club, Dell and Accenture.

Board Chair Michael Bender praised Buchanan saying his vast retail experience leading operations, merchandising, and e-commerce at Walmart and his past five years as CEO of Michaels will bring a steady, proven, innovative leader to Kohl's.

“During his time at Michaels, he improved profitability and cash flow while driving operational efficiencies across the business. He also introduced new ways to leverage technology and e-commerce, allowing Michaels to more effectively meet customers where they are today,” Bender said.

Following the announcement, retail sentiment on Stocktwits jumped into the ‘extremely bullish’ territory (75/100) from ‘neutral’ a day ago. The move was accompanied by ‘extremely high’ message volume that hit an eight-month high.

Kohl’s Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 6:45 a.m. ET on Nov. 26, 2024 | Source: Stocktwits

Kohl’s is set to announce its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday. A poll conducted on Stocktwits showed the majority of the participants believe the firm will beat earnings expectations.

Meanwhile, one user praised the company’s leadership transition.

Shares of the firm were down over 3% in Tuesday’s pre-market session. The stock has lost over 34% since the beginning of the year.

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