This was a big week with companies like Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF), Chewy Co. (CHWY), Gap Inc. (GPS) and HP Inc. (HPQ) reporting quarterly earnings, providing further insight into the consumer landscape. Yahoo Finance sat down with top executives from retail, tech and fintech to discuss the current state of the consumer. Here are some key moments:
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna (00:00:05)
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski discusses the state of consumer spending in the pay later space. Siemiatkowski notes that “zero interest” is “one of the key elements” of the company's pay later product offering. “To some extent, we're seeing continued acceleration in our growth and favorability among U.S. consumers.”
Sumit Singh, CEO of Chewy (00:00:38)
Chewy CEO Sumit Singh outlined three “positive signs” that Chewy (CHWY) sees as “silver linings toward normalization.” “First, we are seeing renewed signs of growth in the industry. Second, inflation, which was a key point through last year, is slowly starting to fade. Third, each month so far this year, we've seen a good balance between net adoptions and adoption rates from our shelter and rescue community.”
Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Fran Horowitz (00:01:14)
Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Fran Horowitz noted the company is experiencing “broad-based” success. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) reported first-quarter earnings that beat expectations on both sales and profits. “Both brands…were up double digits,” Horowitz said. “We saw double digit growth across geographies…and the best part is, we saw it across all genders.”
HP Inc. CEO Enrique Lores (00:01:44)
HP Inc. (HPQ) reported second-quarter results that slightly beat expectations on both revenue and profit. “This is the first quarter in eight quarters that our PC business has grown. We are pleased with the progress we are making in our PC business and expect this growth to continue in the second half of the year,” said HP Inc. CEO Enrique Lores.
Richard Dixon, CEO and President, Gap Inc. (00:02:00)
“Customers are responding positively to our brand revitalization efforts,” Gap Inc. CEO and President Richard Dickson said after Gap Inc. (GPS) reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings results. “There's a lot to be happy about. We're on stronger financial footing, our brands are resonating, and we're just getting started.”
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This post Mariela Rosales.
Video Transcript
One of the key elements of the buy-back products we offer is that they are interest-free.
And to some extent, as you know, our growth and U.S. consumer preferences continue to accelerate, and in fact a large part of that growth is driven by rising interest rates on credit cards and other lending products.
And indeed, to some extent, this makes binoculars a more attractive offer.
So that makes it a little bit difficult to tell whether or not we're seeing stronger growth or stronger sentiment among consumers than we're seeing in society as a whole.
As you know, we are beginning to see new signs in the industry.
So we're calling this a year of normalization, and we think we have a pretty accurate picture of demand and we think we have a pretty accurate picture of how this normalization is happening.
Secondly, inflation has been a key issue throughout the last year, but we are beginning to see a victory.
Third, every month so far this year, we have seen a healthy balance between the net adoption rate and the adoption rate coming from shelters and rescue groups.
So, these are all good pieces of information that essentially bring some encouraging signs towards normalizing the pets that we've been talking about.
Success has been widespread.
Both brands saw double-digit growth, which is great to see. Hollister also accelerated from +9 in the fourth quarter to +12 in the first quarter, and we saw double-digit growth across the region.
Mayan, Pak and North American, and what's most exciting is that it can be seen by all genders.
You couldn't have said that last quarter, right?
Business for Hollister was not yet booming, but it is now very widespread.
Balance is key across business today.
This is the first quarter in eight that our PC business has experienced significant growth, driven by both our Enterprise and S&B commercial segments.
Therefore, we are pleased with the progress we have seen in P CS.
Our brand revitalization efforts have been well received by customers, and we believe this trend will continue in the second half of the year.
As I've said before, revitalizing our legacy portfolio of great brands is an incredible opportunity, and our culture of being committed to realizing their full potential is really gaining momentum.
It's also the first time that all four of our brands have received positive comparatives.
Well, that's many years away.
So look there.
There's a lot to be excited about.
Our company is on a stronger financial footing, our brand is resonating, but we're just getting started.
