Earnings Sentiment

Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.

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Sentiment Distribution

   

Earnings Call Transcript Word Cloud

     

Bullish Statements during Earnings call

Statement
that is well positioned to thrive and create meaningful value for all of our stakeholders
The go-forward performance of our private brand fleet is well performing to our plan
Taking a step back, this holiday season, we offered an improved omnichannel experience with effective merchandising and a clear demonstration of value
Fourth quarter and full year adjusted EPS were above our most recent guidance, reflecting better-than-expected gross margin, SG&A and other revenues and higher asset sale gains
We're pleased with the traction that we're seeing, and we'll continue to keep you updated as that evolves throughout the year
And so we're navigating that throughout the year, but we're encouraged with the traction that we're seeing, particularly in the test and first 50 stores
A Bold New Chapter is designed to return Macy's, Inc.'s enterprise growth, unlock shareholder value and better serve our customers
So there's an ample opportunity to grow across all 3 nameplates by making sure that our assortments are appropriate, as Adrian talked about, making sure that our inventory is accurately allocated between the channels and getting into a more normalized environment where we're not up against as many discontinued private brands
to deliver low single-digit comp growth, mid-single-digit EBITDA dollar growth and a return to pre-pandemic levels of free cash flow
But what's nice about the EBITDA benefit is with scale assortment on the marketplace, the rate of EBITDA increases pretty rapidly
So I would say more work to come, but very pleased with the initial results in private brand and the work we're beginning now in earnest in market brands
There are a few brands that have the deep heritage and a strong emotional connection with its customer
So far, I feel good about the work that we've done in private brand, have a little more work to do to exit the remaining private brands but that should be a growth vehicle for us in the years to come
By putting the customer first, which has always been my priority, we improved Bloomingdale's sales profit and Net Promoter Scores
We feel like we are making solid progress
Strengthening the Macy's nameplate should result in healthier sell-throughs and more productive stores, benefiting Macy's sales and margin profile and returning the nameplate to growth
So we are very pleased with how we're approaching it, but we expect and commit to continued EBITDA expansion going forward
And that's about a better customer experience the cost disciplines that we're putting in place, the healthy and elevated gross margin profile that we continue to sustain because of our inventory discipline, our inventory discipline as well as our cost accounting practices that are coming online this year
So I feel good about the go-forward fleet, the decisions we've made and the value to monetize is greater than the value to operate in these stores
So we're very, very pleased with that
As we continue to think about these disciplines going forward, I'm really excited about what it means on the cost accounting
And what you see with the 80 basis point improvement in delivery expense, it's really around better allocation and simplifying our fulfillment processes are benefiting from that
Importantly, our healthy balance sheet allows us to be opportunistic on timing of the closures to deliver the highest value for our shareholders
With the 340 basis point improvement over last year in the fourth quarter merchandise margin
We've been very disciplined on inventory management over the years, and that continues to serve us quite well
And Bloomingdale's is coming off of several years of good performance and has the opportunity to capitalize on the disruption in the marketplace
They have ample opportunity for growth
Our staffing changes also showed and yielded favorable results and we expect to have more traction on our Bold New Strategy or Bold New Chapter Strategy initiatives as we progress through the year in stores, in digital and marketing in different parts of our business
With increased visibility and awareness across the entire categories, merchants should be able to provide more consistency in product and experience and reduce duplication
We've done a number of testing coming out of last year that have been scaled is 2022 and the first 50, which gives us confidence and conviction of the traction around the top line sales that we actually have provided in our guidance
       

Bearish Statements during earnings call

Statement
Net sales of $8.12 billion was down 1.7% to last year with comparable owned plus licensed sales down 4.2%
I think the comment about the decline in fourth quarter transactions, was more pronounced at Macy's than had Bloomingdale's or Bluemercury, although all segments are under pressure
By nameplate, Macy's net sales declined 2.5% and comparable sales declined 4.7% on an owned plus licensed basis
The first thing is that the consumer remains under pressure
As such, we expect our consumer to remain under pressure
O+L+M comp sales, inclusive of non-go-forward locations and digital to be down approximately 1.5% to up approximately 1.5%
On the credit income, you're guiding it down to 30% for the year that excludes the potential regulation change on late fees, but it was down 30% in the fourth quarter
As you know, Mike, the last few years had an abnormally low or historically low level of net credit losses, delinquencies as folks were flushed with cash
I just want to ask on, I guess, on the gross margin for first quarter guided down after a pretty impressive beat in fourth quarter
Macy's nameplate, excluding non-go-forward locations, comparable O+L+M sales to be down 1% to up 2.5% and luxury nameplates comparable O+L+M sales to be about flat to up 2.5%
So the consumer remains under pressure, I'm not going to worry about what we can control
We have reevaluated our foundation to improve search and navigation tools
The likelihood of a recession is now lower than it was a year ago
Parsing that out, Credit card revenues decreased 26% from prior year to $195 million and Macy's Media Network rose 5% to $60 million
We expect gross margin rate to be down no more than 40 basis points to last year, reflecting a normalized clearance and promotional cycle compared to the first quarter of last year, when we did not have enough spring transitional product, adjusted EPS to be between $0.10 and $0.16 which assumes no asset sale gains
We are modelling a 1% to 4% decline in Macy's Inc
Year-end inventories were up 2% to last year and down 16% to 2019, reflecting our desire to own more seasonally appropriate transitional product
Just on the transaction decline in the fourth quarter
We have challenged the status quo, identified what we've gotten right and where we could have done better
In setting our Bold New Chapter strategy, we've been our own toughest critics
   

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