Dive Summary:
- Retailers are expected to report December same-store sales on Thursday, and analysts are projecting poor numbers due to low consumer confidence and fiscal-cliff uncertainties.
- Additionally, anxiety related to the Newtown, Conn., shooting may have kept some shoppers away from malls.
- Retail Metrics data reportedly showed lowered consensus estimates for Gap Inc., Kohl’s Corp., Macy’s Inc. and Limited Brands Inc.
From the article:
"... Consensus estimates for December, according to Retail Metrics data, fell another 0.2 percentage point on Monday for both same-store sales and the tallies excluding drug stores — to increases of 1.9% and 3.7%, respectively. Retail Metrics noted that the average analyst estimate has declined by 0.6 percentage point from the start of the month.
'This is significant downward move to sales estimates for the most important month of the year,' said Retail Metrics president Ken Perkins, noting that December alone represents about one-fifth of total annual sales. ..."
