Macy’s forecast annual sales and profit below Wall Street’s expectations on Thursday, joining several U.S. retailers in signaling that shoppers were holding off buying apparel and accessories in the face of economic uncertainty.
Reuters
The department-store chain, which sources a significant portion of its self-branded goods from China, is also expected to take a hit as President Donald Trump‘s newly announced tariffs will likely place an additional burden on already tight American household budgets.
Retailers from Walmart to Target have also issued cautious forecasts for the year on concerns about a potential hike in product prices across categories including food, automobiles and electronics, which could deter consumers from buying these items.
Macy’s said it expects 2025 net sales between $21 billion and $21.4 billion, compared with the average analyst estimate of $21.81 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company sees annual adjusted profit per share between $2.05 and $2.25, compared to an estimate of $2.31 per share.
It is also resuming share buybacks under its remaining $1.4-billion share repurchase authorization.
Macy’s nameplate banner saw comparable sales fall 0.9% on an owned-plus-licensed basis in the fourth quarter.
CEO Tony Spring, who took over a year ago, has outlined a plan to turn the struggling department-store chain around by closing 150 Macy’s stores through 2026.
The company is betting on sales growth by opening more stores of its higher growth Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury luxury divisions, which saw comparable sales on an owned basis rise 4.8% and 6.2%, respectively, in the reported quarter.
Macy’s fourth-quarter sales fell 4.3% to $7.77 billion, compared to analysts’ estimate of $7.87 billion.
It had said in January that it expected net sales to be at or slightly below the low end of its $7.8 billion to $8 billion forecast.
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com posted its strongest revenue growth in 11 quarters on Thursday, as deep discounts and government subsidies encouraged customers to spend more, driving up strong year-end sales.
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U.S.-listed shares of JD.com rose more than 5% in early trading, after the company exceeded market expectations for the fourth quarter.
China’s e-commerce leaders such as JD.com and Alibaba have slashed prices to lure shoppers amid intense competition.
The country’s government has also ramped up fiscal stimulus to bolster domestic consumption, which includes incentives for consumer goods trade-ins, encouraging purchase of updated appliances.
JD.com — a major retailer of home appliances in China — expects healthier consumption trends this year on a rebound in demand and an AI-powered improvement in customer experience, CEO Sandy Xu said on a post-earnings call.
The company reported total revenue of 346.99 billion yuan ($47.91 billion) for the fourth quarter, a 13.4% increase over the year earlier. Analysts estimated 332.35 billion yuan, according to data compiled by LSEG.
M Science analyst Vinci Zhang said it is a strong set of results overall. However, most of the revenue beat was driven by electronics and home appliances which is, in turn, being driven by government subsidies.
“So how much of the overall beat is happening organically, we don’t really know,” he said.
SPDB International raised its fourth-quarter revenue estimate for JD.com in January, owing to the government’s trade-in policy. The securities house expects a “significant improvement” in growth of electrified product categories, it said in a report.
JD.com is also venturing into new business areas. It announced its entry into the food delivery market in February.
“The food delivery business is a nice compliment to its existing business structure because JD owns a lot of warehousing and logistics capabilities, so adding on food delivery just feels like it’s a natural extension of that,” Zhang said.
Net income attributable to JD.com’s ordinary shareholders was 9.9 billion yuan for the October-December quarter, compared with 3.4 billion yuan a year earlier.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said French-based shipping firm CMA CGM would invest $20 billion in the United States to build out shipping logistics and terminals.
Reuters
Trump told reporters he would also announce a new program for building ships in the United States next week or the following week, including incentives.
CMA CGM is the world’s third-largest container shipping line.
Its CEO Rodolphe Saade, who joined Trump in the Oval Office, confirmed the $20 billion investment and said it was expected to create 10,000 jobs.
The shipping line industry is faced with uncertainty as the Trump administration’s plans for import tariffs and port fees on Chinese-built vessels threaten to shake up maritime trade.
The $20 billion investment over four years would include expansion of container ports and the creation of an air cargo hub in Chicago supported by five new Boeing 777 freighters flown by American pilots, CMA CGM said in a statement.
Saade, a French-Lebanese billionaire who controls CMA CGM with other family members, told Trump at the White House that his group was also looking at supporting building of container ships and would make an announcement “in the coming weeks”.
The company further plans to raise its number of U.S.-flagged vessels to 30 from 10 currently, he added.
Lagging U.S. vessel capacity and shipbuilding compared with China has been a major concern for U.S. officials. A White House document seen by Reuters showed the Trump administration plans to levy fees on imports on Chinese-made ships and offer tax credits to resuscitate domestic shipbuilding.
CMA CGM operates port terminals in New York and Los Angeles that it acquired as part of multi-billion investments drawing on record profits made during a post-COVID shipping boom.
The Marseille-based firm is the biggest cargo carrier for U.S. retail giant Walmart.
CMA CGM, which is also part of a vessel-sharing alliance with Asian lines including China’s COSCO, had warned last week that U.S. port fees on China-built ships would have a big impact on all shipping firms.
Swiss skincare company Galderma will talk to major American retailers about trade tariffs imposed by the U.S. government in order to manage their impact, CEO Flemming Ornskov said on Thursday.
Cetaphil
U.S. President Donald Trump this week slapped tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico, though his administration later said it would temporarily exempt automakers and consider other products.
“We will be talking to Walmart, Target, Amazon, and others to figure out how we’re going to react to this, also price-wise,” Ornskov told Reuters after Galderma posted a 9.3% sales increase for 2024 and net income of $231 million.
He described tariffs as “a bit of a moving target,” noting that their scope could still be altered. Ornskov said his company had already taken “precautions on stock and other things” in the U.S. to mitigate the impact on Galderma, which has major production operations in Canada.
“Another way of compensating this would be just to drive more volume with your product,” he said. Galderma’s net U.S. sales were flat in 2024 on the year and fell in the final quarter. Ornskov said there were specific factors behind that and was confident U.S. sales would grow in 2025.
Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on Europe.
As most aesthetic companies produce in Europe, they and Galderma would be affected, Ornskov said.
Galderma’s results come almost a year after it listed on the Swiss stock exchange. Its share price has since doubled from its initial launch price, though the stock fell by as much as 9% on Thursday before paring losses.