Target Gaining On Bud Light, Now Down A Staggering $15 Billion
Look out, Bud Light -- Target is hot on your heels!
The retail giant ended the week down $15 billion since going viral for displaying a kids' pride section at stores across the country last month -- a move that led to emergency meetings and a quick course correction.
Apparently, though, the damage was already done. Late Friday, Target shares slipped by another 3.26% by close of trading. The embattled store's share price now sits $126.99, down from a high of almost $162-per-share last month.
As if that wasn't bad enough, data also showed a nearly 14% decrease in store traffic the final week of May.
Hold my Bud Light indeed!
“Considering the competitive landscape, we believe Walmart is likely to continue gaining market share (including from Target), and Target’s high exposure to discretionary sales (55% of sales) will not serve them well in the current macro backdrop (which became more evident this earnings season),” Citi analyst Paul Lejuez said earlier this week.
“Despite the recent stock pressure, we cannot recommend investors buy the stock given these dynamics and now believe the risk/reward is more balanced, but risk is more to the downside near term.”
Bud Light now has some bad company in Target
Whoooooof. Guess that's what pushing an agenda on kids will do to a company.
If you ever wondered ... well, there's your answer. Seems to me the American people have spoken loud and clear when it comes to Bud Light and now Target.
Anheuser-Busch, by the way, had lost nearly $30 billion according to figures earlier this month. Talk about a tight race.
Both industry giants appear to be in deep trouble, with no end in sight for either. To Bud Light's credit, they are currently teaming up with Washington DC bars to donate to Folds of Honor. It's a good start, and I expect to see more of that moving forward this summer.
As for Target, well ...
It's been a rocky few weeks for the popular chain ever since videos went viral of the kids' Pride display in the front of stores across the country. Several customers accused the chain of child grooming with transgender shirts and pride onesies, while “tuck bathing suits” also went viral.
Figures weren’t great late last month, either, when data showed Target had already lost nearly $9 billion in the week since the videos started going viral.
Reports also surfaced of an “emergency meetings” held by top execs that may or may not have led to the eventual moving of the displays to the back of several locations.
The latest numbers don't paint a much rosier picture.
Buckle up.