A Sneak Peek Into Hits & Flops Of Black Friday In 2019

Black Friday marks the beginning of the busiest US shopping season and is known for striking solid deals all over. However, the dynamics of changing retail landscape prompted online sales to take control of the holiday purchases. This is especially true this year as a harsh winter left large parts of the United States into whiteouts, thus impacting the travel decisions of avid shoppers.

Consequently, Black Friday sales for brick-and-mortar stores in 2019 declined 6.2% (the weakest result since 2014), according to ShopperTrak data, quoted on CNBC (read: Shop Online ETFs & Stocks for Black Friday & Beyond).

Consumers splurged online on the occasion of Thanksgiving too. Overall, sales trends probably matched Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) Analytics’ prediction of generating $4.4 billion in sales on Thanksgiving in the ongoing year. This, in turn, indicates an 18.9% year-over-year jump.While Black Friday online shopping hit the $7.4-billion mark, recording an all-time high for the day, per Adobe Analytics. It is now the “second-largest online sales day ever”, trailing only last year’s Cyber Monday sales worth $7.9 billion. Per Abode Analytics, Cyber Monday probably has registered sales of $9.4 billion in the current year.

Hot Retailers on Black Friday

Despite a spurt in online sales, some big-box retailers like Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT) bucked the trend of online euphoria, attracting huge in-store footfall, per CNBC. Also, investors should note that brick-and-mortar retailers like Target and Walmart were successfully transformed into online shopping.

Walmart and Target saw greater leaps than Amazon in terms of online customer spending during the first two weeks of November compared with last year’s tally, going by Edison Trends, quoted on CNBC. Walmart raked in 51% more than last year, followed by Target (47% surge in consumer spending) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) (up 32%), plus Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) (up 15%) and Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) (up 15%).

Research house Cowen acknowledged department store Nordstrom as “another winner of Black Friday with special deals and a strong assortment of products,” as quoted on CNBC. In fact, the store experienced more in-store traffic than last year.Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) was yet another strong performer on Black Friday. MKM Partners stated, “Lululemon was more strategic this year in its marketing of Black Friday, with lots of emails promoting the sales.”

Against this backdrop, we highlight a few stock winners of Black Friday, 2019 below.

Winners

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has been a clear winner. It hails from a favorable Zacks sector (top 6%) and has a VGM score of B. It is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) player.

Target

Another winner is Target, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). It belongs to a favorable Zacks industry (top 10%) and has a VGM score of B. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Amazon

Notwithstanding the wow moment at Wal-Mart, Ammonization is in fine fettle. The stock has a Zacks Rank of 3 and comes from a favorable Zacks industry (top 42%).

Best Buy

Best Buy was yet another frontrunner “with strong traffic, well-stocked product and clear merchandise presentations.”This specialty retailer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a VGM score of A.

Losers

J. C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE:JCP)

The departmental store saw a 19% drop in online customer spending in the first two weeks of November. The stock is Zacks #3 Ranked.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)

One of the largest online retailers, eBay shockingly failed to keep pace with the ongoing online shopping mania, suffering a 9% decline in online transactions in early November. The stock has a Zacks Rank #3.

Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS)

There was a 1% slip in online customer spending at Kohl’s. The retailer is a #3 Ranked stock.

Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M)

Cowen’s analyst flagged “caution” against Macy’s for the entire holiday season. This stock carries a Zacks Rank #3.

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