The Coronavirus pandemic has been hard on retailers. Revenue has fallen in step with store closures, slowed factory production, and an economy in turmoil. Companies like J. Crew and JC Penney have filed for bankruptcy. Brands are hoping to bounce back as lockdown measures lift and stores reopen, but recovery won’t be swift.
Apparel company Express ($EXPR) reported on earnings this morning with a quarterly loss of $1.55 per share, compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.37. Last year’s loss was at $0.15 per share. Revenue is down from last year and down from the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenue of $210 million declined by 53.40% from the same period last year, which missed the estimate of $323 million.
Our alternative data on Express shows that things have been iffy for a while. The apparel brand's Twitter following, for example, has been cratering since 2018.
Express' Facebook likes have been dropping since the start of 2020.
The Express employee headcount on LinkedIn has been falling all year, along with the company's stock, which has been cut by more than half.
On top of all that, Express started permanently closing stores in January. The company shut down 31 stores across 20 states that month and plans on closing 100 stores by 2022. At this rate, Express may not make it out of COVID alive.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
