Macy's shares soared Tuesday morning after the company far exceeded profit estimates. The retailer also said it reached an agreement to sell some of its real estate assets to Brookfield Asset Management. Joining The Long and The Short to discuss is Melissa Gonzalez, CEO, and Founder of The Lionesque Group and Melissa Armo, Founder of The Stock Swoosh.
Armo says she's pleasantly surprised by Macy's gaining such a big lead at the beginning of the year. She believes tax reform will also help a lot of the retailers, including Macy's, throughout 2018. However, she thinks Macy's still needs to figure out a way to bring more foot traffic to the stores. Gonzalez is excited about Macy's improving e-commerce business and the decision to scale back the discounts and flash sales.
Plus, is real estate retail's next big asset? Gonzalez says it's a smart move to partner with Brookfield Asset Management and sell off some office space, similar to what Lord & Taylor did with WeWork. However, Macy's ultimately needs to bring more customer experiences to the store to compete with the elephant in the room, Amazon.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
