Nordstrom Sales Fall 53% in the Second Quarter

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many retailers have been suffering while others like Target have been reporting record numbers.

Nordstrom is one of the companies that did not fare too well. The retailer reported second quarter financial results this week revealing that sales had dropped 53% as the the company closed many stores due to the coronavirus.

For the period ended August 1st, Nordstrom had reported a net loss of $255 million, or $1.62 a share. This is in comparison with net income of $141 million in the quarter a year ago, or 90 cents a share. Revenue at $1.86 billion also came in lower than the $2.38 billion that was expected.

The company’s stores, including its off-price Nordstrom Rack locations, were closed for about 50% of the days in the latest quarter which helped to weigh down the results.

Online sales also fell 5%, due in large part to the department store chain moving its popular Anniversary Sale that is typically held in July into the third quarter.

“We’re confident that we can improve sales trends in the second half of the year and beyond,” President Pete Nordstrom assured in a statement. However, the company didn’t offer an outlook for the remainder of the year.
Chief Financial Officer Anne Bramman also assured that Nordstrom is planning for “sequential and gradual improvement in sales, earnings and cash flow” in the second half of 2020.

“We’ve had this long-held tradition that we don’t decorate our stores [until] after Thanksgiving … but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be in a position of selling customers what they want, when they want it,” said Bramman.

“As we emerge from this disruptive period, our ambition is for Nordstrom to be positioned as a retail winner by gaining market share and driving profitable growth,” she said.

Retail rival Macy’s is set to report earnings next week.

Nordstrom shares are down roughly 62% so far this year.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) and have not been compensated for this article.