Shoppers cast shadows as they carry their bags along the waterfront in Portland, Maine, U.S, December 26, 2024. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters It’s not just Walmart. The leaders of companies that serve everyone from penny-pinching grocery shoppers to first-class travelers are seeing cracks in demand, a shift after resilient consumers propped up the U.S. economy…
Ulta Beauty on Thursday issued weak guidance for the year ahead as it navigates a series of internal missteps, rising competition and what it called “consumer uncertainty.” The retailer, which appointed Kecia Steelman as its new CEO in January, said it’s expecting comparable sales to be flat or grow 1% in 2025, while analysts had…
Brown Girl Jane’s sales have more than doubled since the brand got picked up by Sephora last year. The beauty retailer took the 15 Percent Pledge, an effort to add more Black-owned brands to shelves. Courtesy: Brown Girl Jane Fragrance brand Brown Girl Jane’s perfume bottles sit on shelves at Sephora near some of the…
An Estee Lauder counter is seen on the floor of a department store in Brooklyn on Feb. 5, 2025 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Several beauty stocks posted major losses this week, as companies such as E.l.f. Beauty and Estee Lauder reported disappointing earnings and cut guidance. E.l.f. closed out its…
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2025. Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images There’s a delicate balance playing out at corporations across America. As the Trump administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, many prominent companies have publicly scaled back…
Check out the companies making headlines before the bell. Affirm Holdings — Shares of the payment company popped 14% after Affirm exceeded earnings and revenue expectations for the fiscal second quarter . Affirm, which provides buy now, pay later loans, reported $866 million in revenue for the period, while analysts polled by LSEG expected $807…
E.l.f. Beauty on Thursday cut its full-year guidance after seeing a 36% drop in profits and “softer than expected” sales trends in January, marking a rare downturn for one of beauty’s hottest brands. The cosmetics company reported holiday sales that were higher than expected but profits that narrowly missed estimates, another rare miss for the…
Customers shop for food at a grocery store on Jan. 15, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson | Getty Images Many of the items that U.S. shoppers browse and buy in retailers’ aisles come from far-away factories or farms — a reality that could soon force many consumers to change their buying habits. Sneakers, T-shirts,…
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Quantum stocks — Quantum computing stocks dropped after Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg became the latest high-profile executive to ease expectations for the technology. Rigetti Computing dropped 27%, while D-Wave Quantum shed 32%. The Defiance Quantum ETF lost 2.5%. Nvidia , chip stocks — Popular semiconductor…
