By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and MICHELLE CHAPMAN
NEW YORK — Quarterly earnings from Macy’s and Best Buy show how Americans have pulled back their spending on clothes and gadgets as inflation strains household budgets.
Macy’s profit and sales in the holiday quarter slid, though it beat Wall Street expectations and its outlook for 2023 didn’t disappoint given the uncertain economic environment.
It was the same at Best Buy, though the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain issued a downbeat financial outlook for the year.
It’s a retreat from the heavy spending on technology during the pandemic when millions of parents and children worked or attended classes largely from home.
“The consumer electronics industry continues to feel the effects of the broader macro environment and its impact on consumers,” said Matt Bilunas, Best Buy’s chief financial officer.
Best Buy reported weak spending on computers, home theaters, appliances and mobile phones in the fourth quarter, though tablets and gaming were still hot categories.
Major retailers over the past week have said that they don’t know what to expect in 2023 with so many unknowns regarding the strength of the U.S. and global economy.
However, unlike big retailers that have already reported results, Macy’s on Thursday remained relatively positive about its profit this year.
The department store expects to earn between $3.67 and $4.11 per share in 2023, potentially outperforming Wall Street consensus projections for per-share earnings of $3.78.
Shares jumped more than 9% to $22.34 on Thursday.
Retailers are feeling the sting of a consumer spending slowdown in an economic environment that’s growing more unpredictable. Kohl’s, Walmart and Target have all issued cautious outlooks. Many stores had to discount heavily in the last six months to get rid of unwanted merchandise as shoppers shifted their spending more to necessities and services. Now, many stores seem to have inventory in control…
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