Kohl’s stock had a headline win — but the market saw through it
Kohl’s delivered the kind of quarter that looks decent in a press release and weak on a trading screen. The retailer reported that fourth-quarter net sales fell 3.9% to $5 billion, while comparable sales dropped 2.8% and full-year sales declined 4% to $14.8 billion, according to Axios. Profit improved, yes — quarterly earnings rose to $125 million, and EPS increased to $1.07 from $0.43 a year earlier, helped by tighter inventory and expense discipline, as reported by Axios.
That was enough to spark an early pop. Briefly. Then reality came back.
According to Axios, Kohl’s shares jumped more than 14% on the profit beat before fading and closing the day down 1.5%. That is the hook. Not the earnings beat. The fade. The market basically said: nice margins, but where is the customer?
Traffic is the wound — not the quarterly optics
The company admitted it
Kohl’s CFO Jill Timm put it bluntly on the earnings call: “Our issue continues to be traffic,” as cited by Axios. CEO Michael Bender also acknowledged the retailer “lost some competitive ground” during key holiday shopping periods, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, per Axios.
That matters more than the earnings beat. Retail does not live on accounting discipline forever. It lives on footfall, basket size, repeat visits, and relevance. When traffic stays weak, the margin story starts to look like temporary cosmetic work. Cash flow holds — until it does not. Then the market punishes.
Neil Saunders of GlobalData, quoted by Axios, called the performance “one of the weakest in mainstream retail,” adding that sales are down nearly 24% since 2019, even with the Sephora shop-in-shop boost. That is not a turnaround. That is a brand still losing altitude.
Are Kohl’s stores closing in 2026?
Not broadly — but closures are still part of the story
This is where the headline gets messy. Kohl’s management said there are no plans for broad store closures, and that more than 90% of its roughly 1,150 stores are profitable, according to Axios. But one Michigan location — in Sault Ste. Marie — did close on March 14, 2026 after final clearance sales, according to The Sun.
The same The Sun report says the closure follows the company’s earlier shutdown of 27 underperforming stores across 15 states. So no, Kohl’s is not signaling a chain-wide retreat right now. But the store-closing narrative did not appear out of thin air either.
The real bet Kohl’s is making
Kohl’s now expects 2026 sales to range from down 2% to flat and plans to lean harder into value by expanding proprietary brands, improving opening price points, and adding more under-$10 impulse items, according to Axios.
Cheap items. Tighter inventory. Better optics. Fine.
But if shoppers still do not walk through the door, none of that fixes the core problem. And that is why the stock could not hold the rally.
