Kohls Corp Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Robert Drbul - Guggenheim Securities - Analyst : Hi, good morning. Tom, I was just wondering, if you just talk some more just around the, I guess, the general confidence in the strategy on a go-forward basis. I think when you think is some of the in some of the challenges that you're saying can within the (inaudible) business and even within the industry?

Question: Robert Drbul - Guggenheim Securities - Analyst : Great, thank you very much.

Question: Oliver Chen - TD Cowen - Analyst : Hi, Tom, Jill. A very helpful comments on. Why you think the clearance impact was worse than you had originally guided to. And as you think about the biggest needle movers going forward, it sounded like juniors, active apparel, jewelry. What will really drive the comp better as we think about guidance and what should happen sequentially in the back half? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MAY 30, 2024 / 1:00PM, KSS.N - Q1 2024 Kohls Corp Earnings Call And a follow up with your comp guidance for the quarter, what's the assumed for June and July relative to May? And are you thinking that traffic will be negative, positive or flattish? Thank you.

Question: Oliver Chen - TD Cowen - Analyst : Thank you. Best regards.

Question: Mark Altschwager - Baird - Analyst : Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. So the 600 basis point headwind on the lower clearance. How much of that would you categorize as somewhat onetime as somewhat once you cycled last year's actions? And how should we think about that moving forward? I guess you continue to manage inventory very lean. So would it be fair to think that reduced clearance product availability would be a headwind moving forward? And then bigger picture, do you think you're losing a cohort of your customer base to other retailers as you manage to this much lower level of clearance product? And what are you doing to engage that customer and make sure they still see value in the overall assortment, but that clearance product no longer being there to such an extent.

Question: Mark Altschwager - Baird - Analyst : Thank you. And Jill, with the reduced comp outlook for the year, can you speak to any incremental opportunities you see on the cost side of the equation? And then is the 78% still the right way to think about longer term, any open bridging the kind of that 400 basis point expansion versus what you're planning for this year? Thank you.

Question: Mark Altschwager - Baird - Analyst : Thank you and best of luck. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MAY 30, 2024 / 1:00PM, KSS.N - Q1 2024 Kohls Corp Earnings Call

Question: Matt Boss - JP Morgan - Analyst : Great. Thanks. Hey, so Tom, could you elaborate maybe on first quarter trends that you saw at stores versus digital? And how best to think about the sequential cadence across channels that you're expecting in the second quarter versus back half of the year? And then Jill, I just wanted to circle back on trends that you cited in May relative to what you saw in March and April with reg price selling?

Question: Matt Boss - JP Morgan - Analyst : Great. And then, Jill, just with the operating margin setback for this year's guide, is there any change to longer term that the 7% to 8% or do you see today's change is more transitory? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MAY 30, 2024 / 1:00PM, KSS.N - Q1 2024 Kohls Corp Earnings Call

Question: Matt Boss - JP Morgan - Analyst : Great color, best of luck.

Question: Charles Grom - Gordon Haskett - Analyst : Thanks very much. Good morning. Just wanted to go in and talk about the help of your customer today across income cohorts. And then maybe if we could talk about trends across apparel and footwear in the quarter relative to down four. I don't know if you want to pocket regular versus clearance or if there's a way to split it out just to assess the health of those two parts of your business. Thanks.

Question: Charles Grom - Gordon Haskett - Analyst : Yes, that's that's very helpful. Thank you, Tom. Just one for Jill on the model. Just how should we think about the cadence and phasing of comps over the balance of the year? Should we think about it somewhere in the down 1% to 3% range by quarter or are you anticipating Q4 to be a little bit lower because of the five fewer days? And then on credit, you may have touched on this earlier. I hopped on a couple of minutes late, or are you still anticipating down mid 10s dollar growth in '24? Thank you.

Question: Charles Grom - Gordon Haskett - Analyst : Great, thank you. Appreciate it.

Question: Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group - Analyst : Hi, good morning, everyone. (inaudible) While ago you had talked about enhancements being made in stores, whether it's the queuing lines, anything you're seeing in stores with these strategic initiatives that is, that you expect to help as we go through the balance of the year. Can you talk about the difference in performance of the digital channel versus the stores channel and what you're seeing? And I think you are thinking about it as remodels or downsize their new stores? How should we be thinking of that in light of the current environment? Thank you.

Question: Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group - Analyst : Thank you.