Investing.com - More weak holiday sales numbers pushed retailers down in midday trading as Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) said it would need to use promotions to get rid of excess inventory after disappointing sales in December.
Nordstrom dipped 7.6% in midday trading as two Wall Street analysts downgraded the company’s stock due to weak trends in its department store business.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) downgraded Nordstrom to neutral from buy, while Telsey Advisory Group downgraded it to market perform from outperform, CNBC reported.
The disappointing holiday numbers come on the heels of weakness in other retailers for Christmas, most notably Macy's.
Nordstrom said after the bell Tuesday it now expects its diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2018 to fall on the low end of a previously estimated range of $3.27 to $3.37. Excluding one-time items EPS is expected to be at the low end of $3.55 to $3.65 per share, versus expectations of around $3.60 per share.
Sales for its stores were up 1.3% compared to a year ago, with full-price same-store sales up just 0.3%, the company said.
Online sales rose 18% during the holiday season and accounted for 36% of total sales.
Other retailers were also down, with Macy’s off 2.8% and Tiffany (NYSE:TIF) down 1.2%. Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) slipped 1.7%, while Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) decreased 0.8%. The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary index inched up 0.07%.