Kohl’s Corp. raised its profit forecast for the year, but that wasn’t enough to cheer investors, who sold shares after the company said it expected “headwinds” in the second half.
Unseasonable weather hurt traffic at the department-store chain in the first quarter, though as temperatures improved, business “bounced back,” helped also by a calendar shift, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Besanko said on a conference call Tuesday. And while the second quarter may also get a lift, the company expects comparable-sales headwinds in the second half of the year.
The shares fell as much as 5.7 percent to $61.76 in New York Tuesday. They had gained 21 percent this year through Monday’s close.
Chief Executive Officer Michelle Gass, who took over last week, is looking to distance Kohl’s from other mall-based department stores. Rather than closing underperforming locations — a strategy adopted by Macy’s Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Sears Holdings Corp. — Kohl’s has been touting the fact that its stores have remained open. It’s reformatting many into smaller venues and using them to test partnerships with companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Aldi supermarkets.
