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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league might be affected by tariffs and relations between the U.S. and Canada because players in both countries are paid in U.S. dollars.
Bettman joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss the league’s 2024-25 season, geopolitical effects and more.

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman said Wednesday that the league could be affected by the current tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
Bettman said 25% of the league’s revenue comes from its Canadian clubs. Though he said the Canadian teams perform well, Bettman added that there could be ramifications for the league depending on the state of Canadian tariffs.

“All players, no matter which country they play in, get paid in U.S. dollars,” Bettman told CNBC’s Becky Quick on “Squawk Box.” “So if the impact of the tariffs is to see the Canadian dollar drop relative to the U.S. dollar, it will make it more difficult and more painful.”
Bettman said he has not yet engaged in any conversations with the Trump administration, but he believes the core of the tension between the two countries is a “policy issue,” with Canadians and Americans getting “caught in the middle.”
“I’m hoping that this is a moment in time and both countries find a way to work through this,” Bettman said, adding that the uncertainty and tariffs may also cause difficulties with the NHL’s sponsors.
The league currently has seven Canadian teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks.
Despite the uncertainty, Bettman said the league is expecting to exceed revenue of $7 billion in mixed currency for the current 2024-25 season. The NHL has also seen record ratings and strong attendance, he noted, with teams playing at 96.7% capacity season to date.

According to CNBC’s 2024 Official NHL Team Valuations, the average NHL franchise value was $1.92 billion.
“Our ratings are strong and we have great media partners in Canada and the United States,” Bettman said. “And we’re in a good place because the game has never been better.” More

Amgen said it has started two critical late-stage trials for its experimental weight loss injection, MariTide, another step in its bid to enter the booming obesity drug market. 
MariTide is a monthly injection that investors hope could compete against existing weight loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, which are weekly injectables. 
One phase three trial is examining Amgen’s drug in around 3,500 people with obesity or who are overweight without Type 2 diabetes, while a second studies MariTide in 999 patients who are obese or overweight and have Type 2 diabetes 

The Amgen logo is displayed outside Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California, on May 17, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Amgen on Wednesday said it has started two critical late-stage trials for its experimental weight loss injection MariTide, another step in its bid to enter the booming obesity drug market. 
“We’re delighted to share that these trials have now been initiated, and really, the progression of the MARITIME program is going very, very well,” Dr. Jay Bradner, Amgen’s executive vice president of research and development, said during a TD Cowen conference, using the name of the drug’s phase three development program. 

MariTide is a monthly injection that investors hope could compete against existing weight loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, which are weekly injectables. They are part of a class of drugs called GLP-1s, which mimic certain hormones produced in the gut to tamp down appetite and regulate blood sugar.
About 6% of U.S. adults, or more than 15 million people, were using a prescription for GLP-1s as of May, according to a survey from health policy organization KFF. Some analysts expect the market for GLP-1s to be worth more than $150 billion annually by the early 2030s.
One of the new phase three trials is examining Amgen’s drug in around 3,500 people with obesity or who are overweight without Type 2 diabetes, Bradner said. The second study examines MariTide in 999 patients who are obese or overweight and have Type 2 diabetes 
The main goal of both studies is to measure the percentage of weight loss at 72 weeks. Amgen will study three target doses of MariTide and plans to use dose escalation, or starting patients at a lower dose of the drug and increasing that amount over time. The company did not share a specific regimen for dosing in the trials. 
Amgen in November said MariTide helped patients with obesity lose up to 20% of their weight on average after a year in a phase two trial, with no weight loss plateau. The drug also helped patients with obesity and Type 2 diabetes lose up to 17% of their weight after a year with no plateau. But the results were on the lower end of Wall Street’s lofty expectations for the drug. 

Amgen will report more data on MariTide this year. The full results of the phase two trial will be presented at the American Diabetes Association conference in June. The company is also continuing to study patients in an extension of that trial that will read out in the second half of this year.
MariTide brings a new approach to weight loss compared with the existing drugs on the market because it is a so-called peptide antibody conjugate, which refers to a monoclonal antibody linked to two peptides. The peptides activate receptors of a gut hormone called GLP-1, while the antibody blocks receptors of another hormone called GIP.
That’s unlike Eli Lilly’s obesity drug, Zepbound, which activates both GIP and GLP-1. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy activates GLP-1 but does not target GIP, which may also affect how the body breaks down sugar and fat.

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Kenvue settled its proxy fight with activist Starboard Value, adding three new directors to its board.
Starboard’s Jeff Smith will join the board of the Johnson & Johnson spinoff, along with Sarah Hofstetter, president of Profitero, an e-commerce performance analytics platform, and Erica Mann, former head of pharmaceutical company Bayer’s consumer health division.
Kenvue is the maker of iconic brands familiar to both investors and the broader public, such as Aveeno, Band-Aid, Listerine, Neutrogena, Tylenol and J&J’s namesake baby powder and shampoo

Kenvue settled its proxy fight with activist Starboard Value, adding three new directors to its board.
Starboard’s Jeff Smith will join the board of the Johnson & Johnson spinoff, along with Sarah Hofstetter, president of Profitero, an e-commerce performance analytics platform, and Erica Mann, former head of pharmaceutical company Bayer’s consumer health division.

“Sarah’s brand building and digital marketing expertise, Erica’s global consumer health industry experience, and Jeff’s investor perspective and extensive service on corporate boards will further strengthen the Board with complementary, value-additive skillsets,” said Larry Merlo, chair of Kenvue’s board, in a statement Wednesday.
CNBC reported in October that Starboard had amassed a significant stake in the company and expressed disappointment in its management and share price performance.
Kenvue is the maker of iconic brands familiar to both investors and the broader public, such as Aveeno, Band-Aid, Listerine, Neutrogena, Tylenol and J&J’s namesake baby powder and shampoo.
J&J completed its separation from Kenvue in August 2023, and has since sold all of its remaining stake in the consumer goods giant. It marked the biggest shake-up in J&J’s nearly 140-year history.

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Foot Locker delivered mixed holiday results and warned that profits will be under pressure in the year ahead.
Its largest brand partner, Nike, is using discounts to clear out stale inventory, which is impacting Foot Locker’s performance.

Foot Locker store location on 34th street in New York City.
Courtesy: Foot Locker

Foot Locker said Wednesday it expects another year of deep discounts in the sneaker industry as its largest brand partner Nike continues its reset and relies on markdowns to clear through stale inventory. 
The footwear giant delivered mix results for its holiday quarter, beating Wall Street’s expectations on earnings but falling short on sales. In the year ahead, it anticipates that trend will reverse. For fiscal 2025, Foot Locker is expecting profits to be lower than Wall Street estimated, while the high end of its comparable sales guidance is better than analysts had forecast, according to LSEG and StreetAccount. 

Here’s how Foot Locker performed in its fiscal fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 86 cents adjusted vs. 72 cents expected
Revenue: $2.25 billion vs. $2.32 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 1 was $49 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with a loss of $389 million, or $4.13 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items related to impairment charges and net losses from discontinued operations, Foot Locker reported adjusted earnings per share of $82 million, or 86 cents per share. 
Sales dropped to $2.25 billion, down nearly 6% from $2.38 billion a year earlier. In the year-ago period, Foot Locker – like other retailers — benefited from an extra week, which has skewed comparison results. 
While Foot Locker improved profits by more than 100% compared with the prior quarter, it’s not expecting that trend to continue in its current fiscal year, thanks to deep promotional activity across the sneaker marketplace. It’s expecting adjusted earnings per share to be between $1.35 and $1.65, well behind Wall Street estimates of $1.77, according to LSEG. 
Meanwhile, it’s projecting comparable sales to rise between 1% and 2.5%, which at the high end beats expectations of up 1.9%, according to StreetAccount. 

“While we expect consumer and category promotional pressures to remain uncertain into 2025, especially within the first half, our Lace Up Plan strategies continue to resonate with our customers and brand partners,” CEO Mary Dillon said in a statement. “Our return to positive comparable sales growth, gross margin expansion, and positive free cash flow in fiscal 2024 serve as proof points that our Lace Up Plan is working.”
Foot Locker’s expectations that promotional pressures will weigh on margins in the year ahead indicates that it’s still having issues with Nike, its largest brand partner. The sneaker giant is in the midst of a turnaround under its new CEO Elliott Hill, and said previously it’s relying on deep discounts to clear out inventory. When Nike is promotional, it impacts Foot Locker’s business because the brand still represents about 60% of sales.
In December, Hill outlined his strategy to return Nike to growth and said deep discounting was to blame for declining revenue and profit. The company is aiming to drive full-price sales on its website, but first, it said it needs to aggressively liquidate old inventory through “less profitable channels,” executives said.
Plus, just because Nike shoes are selling for a discount on its own website doesn’t mean that Foot Locker’s website will run those same promotions. For example, a Nike Air Force 1 ’07 model – the type of legacy style that Nike is trying to clear out of in favor of new, more innovative sneakers – is selling for as much as 39% off on Nike’s website.
Meanwhile, the same silhouette, albeit in different colors, is selling for full price on Foot Locker’s website for $115. That’s a problem for Foot Locker because it makes it more likely that a customer will just buy from Nike directly, which is part of the challenge of running a multi-brand company in the age of direct-to-consumer sales.
Under Dillon’s direction, Foot Locker has worked to diversify its brand mix and is now doing a lot more business with buzzy companies like On Running and Hoka and legacy stalwarts like Ugg. It’s also doing a better job of keeping brands happy now that it’s working to refresh and remodel its aging store fleet, which is still responsible for about 80% of sales.
Fixing those stores, and moving them to better locations outside of malls, is a critical component of Dillon’s strategy, and the company expects to spend another $270 million on “customer-facing” capital expenditures in the year ahead. Still, Foot Locker is shrinking. It’s expecting the number of stores to decline by 4% in fiscal 2025 and square footage to fall 2%. 
During the quarter, Foot Locker’s comparable sales climbed 2.6%, beating an expected rise of 2.3%, according to StreetAccount. It’s also seeing more signs of life from its Champs Sports banner, which has been dragging down Foot Locker’s overall performance. During the quarter, comparable sales at Champs grew 1.8%. At Foot Locker’s namesake chain, comparable sales rose 5.5% but the metric overall was dragged down by its WSS banner, where comparable sales declined 3.3%. 
Foot Locker’s biggest weak spot was its Asia-Pacific region, where sales dropped 14.1% during the quarter, driven by a 24% decline at its atmos banner. 
In August, Foot Locker said it was closing its stores and e-commerce operations in South Korea, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and will rely on a third party for operations in Greece and Romania, where it plans to expand its reach. In all, 30 of Foot Locker’s 140 stores in the Asia-Pacific region and 629 in Europe were slated to close or go under a new operator as part of the changes.

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David’s Bridal has a new CEO at the helm as it works to build out an advertising network and online marketplace.
The bridal retailer, which emerged from its second bankruptcy nearly two years ago, is expanding into new categories beyond wedding dresses, but will use outside vendors to produce and ship the products.
“The brides are evolving, and we’re evolving with her,” Kelly Cook, David’s incoming CEO, told CNBC in an interview.

David’s Bridal has nearly 300 locations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
David’s Bridal

David’s Bridal has tapped a new CEO to lead the company as it looks to transform from a legacy retailer into a bridal media powerhouse nearly two years after emerging from its second bankruptcy. 
Kelly Cook, the current president of brand, technology and finance, will take over as David’s CEO on April 1 and will become just the second woman in the company’s 75-year history to hold its top job. 

As part of Cook’s appointment as chief executive, current CEO Jim Marcum will become David’s executive chairman, in addition to his current role as chairman of the board. 
In an interview with CNBC, Cook outlined her vision for the company and the work she’s doing to bring David’s into the future. At the heart of the new strategy is positioning David’s as a media company that uses content to bring customers in and then uses that data to drive advertising revenue for its newly launched Pearl Media Network. On the retail side of the business, David’s plans to build out an online marketplace and become an asset-lite business that relies on a network of vendors to create products and fulfill orders. 
“So we already sell about a third of the wedding dresses in the United States … the bridal dress is what we do, it’s who we are, but we are expanding the shopping side of it to include more categories that she’s asking for, men’s suits, men’s wear, rentals, swimwear, occasion dresses, party dresses,” said Cook. “All of that is being added through a drop ship marketplace model and that allows us to add vendors very, very quickly, it allows us to scale very, very quickly … versus in the past, where we would have to build more stores and add more square footage.” 
David’s efforts to transform come nearly two years after it emerged from a pandemic-induced bankruptcy that nearly ended its business. It managed to keep around 200 stores open after receiving a no-cash bid from asset manager Cion Investment Corp. – the only firm willing to acquire David’s stores and inventory, not just its brand name and intellectual property, reports said previously. 
Now, David’s is attracting a new slate of investors and said Tuesday it has received capital commitments from a number of firms, including private equity platforms and those that offer debt. It declined to name the firms, but said the new capital will be used to fuel the company’s transformation.

Cook said the company was able to woo investors by touting its new take on bridal retail. Currently, David’s manufactures about 90% to 95% of its inventory, but it’s aiming to get the business down to a 50/50 split between its own manufacturing and outside vendors, said Cook. 
This transition into an asset-lite model will help shield the company from the existential risks that pushed it into bankruptcy twice before – inventory and store leases – which can be some of the biggest burdens on a company’s balance sheet.
Plus, it’s following behind the likes of Walmart in its expansion into advertising, or so-called retail media, which is a way for relevant brands to advertise to consumers directly on a retailer’s website or in its stores, among other places. 
Retail media is a novel way for companies to generate new streams of revenue at a time when specialty retail has never been harder to get right. Rising competition, uncertain demand and the breakneck speed that trends move at these days has forced legacy players to get more creative if they want to survive long term. 
The company says that it serves 90% of the overall bridal market but only sells about a third of all wedding dresses in the U.S., showing it still has a wide gap to close and a lot of changes to implement before it can start growing. It will also need to carefully manage its debt and ensure these new strategies pay off to avoid finding itself in bankruptcy court for a third time.
David’s is a private company and doesn’t disclose its revenue or profit, but Cook said the company is planning to scale “in a way that drives profitability as fast as possible.” 
“It’s definitely a new era of David, for sure,” said Cook. “The brides are evolving, and we’re evolving with her.” 

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The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee on Wednesday announced a $100 million grant funded by Ross Stevens to provide long-term financial support for future Olympic athletes.
Every Olympic and Paralympic athlete who participates in the 2026 games in Milan and future games through at least 2032 will receive $200,000 in financial benefits.
The money isn’t coming right away: The first $100,000 doesn’t kick in for 20 years after the games or until the athlete turns 45, whichever comes later.

USA’s delegation sail in a boat along the river Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024.
Zhao Dingzhe | Afp | Getty Images

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee on Wednesday announced a $100 million grant to provide long-term financial support for future Olympic athletes.
The gift, the largest donation in the organization’s history, comes from Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of asset manager Stone Ridge Holdings Group. It comes as awareness grows of the financial burden that many Olympic athletes face: Rigid training schedules often come at the expense of traditional career paths with financial savings.

As part of the gift, every Olympic and Paralympic athlete who participates in the 2026 games in Milan and future games through at least 2032 will receive $200,000 in financial benefits. The six-figure award is paid out per Olympic games that the athlete competes in, and there is no maximum.
“Because of Ross’ extraordinary generosity and philanthropic creativity, we can create more than a financial safety net — we can build a springboard that will propel these athletes to even greater heights beyond their Olympic and Paralympic careers,” USOPC Chair Gene Sykes said in a statement.
There is, however, a catch: The money isn’t coming right away.
The first $100,000 doesn’t kick in for 20 years after the games or until the athlete turns 45, whichever comes later. It will be distributed over four years but can be used for any purpose “such as starting a business or supporting their families,” the USOPC suggests.
The remaining $100,000 will be given to eligible athletes’ families upon their death.

“This is an incredible gift that will pay enormous dividends for these athletes later in life,” said Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the USOPC. “That does not replace the idea of also trying to generate philanthropic funds for athletes now and today, and we are doing that as well.”
Hirshland said while there are some Olympic athletes raking in big money in endorsement deals, the vast majority of Olympic athletes don’t fall into that category.
“There’s no salary that comes along with these roles, there’s certainly no retirement program,” she told CNBC.
The U.S. is unique in that 100% of the work the USOPC does is privately funded. Many countries have sports ministries that operate and fund their Olympic teams.
Some other nations also pay handsome sums for Olympic competitors who bring home a medal. Medalists can earn as much as $750,000 for gold in some jurisdictions.
Typically, the U.S. delegation has about 1,200 athletes, among the largest and often by a wide margin.
“We also have the most successful team in the world and over history, a vastly larger group of competitive athletes than most countries,” Hirshland said. “So the scale and scope of what we do here is vastly different than many of our peers around the world.”
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

Abercrombie & Fitch has seen blockbuster growth over the last two years but it’s expecting that pace to moderate more than Wall Street expected in the year ahead.
The company is forecasting fiscal 2025 sales to rise between 3% and 5%, falling short of expectations of 6.8%, according to LSEG.
During its holiday quarter, Abercrombie narrowly beat expectations on the top and bottom lines.

An Abercrombie & Fitch store stands in midtown Manhattan in New York City on Oct. 24, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Abercrombie & Fitch’s growth story is starting to slow down.
The apparel retailer issued weaker-than-expected guidance for its current quarter and fiscal 2025, and said it expects its sales will grow more slowly than Wall Street anticipated.

Abercrombie is expecting sales to rise between 3% and 5% in fiscal 2025, well below estimates of 6.8% growth, according to LSEG. During its current quarter, the company anticipates earnings per share will be between $1.25 and $1.45, short of expectations of $1.97.
Shares fell nearly 5% in premarket trading.
Beyond its guidance, Abercrombie narrowly beat Wall Street’s expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter. Here’s how the retailer performed compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $3.57 vs. $3.54 expected
Revenue: $1.58 billion vs. $1.57 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 1 was $187 million, or $3.57 per share, compared with $158 million, or $2.97 per share, a year earlier. 
Sales rose to $1.58 billion, up 9% from $1.45 billion a year earlier.

In January, Abercrombie offered investors a glimpse into its holiday performance when it released an early set of results and raised its fourth-quarter outlook. Still, its stock tumbled that day because the forecast showed that Abercrombie was expecting its growth to moderate, and it didn’t anticipate its operating margin would improve beyond its previous forecast. 
Following about two years of explosive stock and sales growth, Abercrombie’s business appears to be leveling out, and the markets may be turning away from retail’s biggest star in favor of names with more immediate upside. 
The company is still growing, and working to build out its international market, but it’s unclear if it’s still going to see the blockbuster numbers it’s been putting out after implementing a turnaround under CEO Fran Horowitz. It faces tough prior-year comparisons, and some of the buzz from the turnaround might be starting to fade. 
Plus, consumers have been noticeably cautious since the start of the year, which is always going to pressure specialty retailers that sell discretionary goods like clothes. Geopolitics, unseasonably cool weather and mass tragedies like the wildfires in Los Angeles have dampened consumer demand, but shoppers are also concerned about things like rising prices from tariffs. In February, consumer confidence slipped to its lowest levels since 2021. 
Additionally, Abercrombie could have seen an impact from the proposed TikTok ban, which dragged on E.l.f. Beauty’s performance at the start of the year. Both of the companies rely heavily on TikTok for marketing. In February, E.l.f. CEO Tarang Amin told CNBC that he suspects the proposed ban impacted cosmetics sales because people weren’t posting things like “get ready with me” videos or clothing hauls, which can drive sales.
In a news release in January, Horowitz signaled that moving forward, Abercrombie will be more focused on boosting profits than sales as it looks to “drive long-term shareholder value.” 
“Following an expected two years of double-digit top and bottom-line growth, I am as confident as ever in the power of our brands and operating model as we move forward, supported by the outstanding capabilities we’ve built,” said Horowitz. “In 2025, we will look to continue sustainable, profitable growth through the execution of our playbooks to win and retain customers around the world. Our goal is to leverage our healthy margin structure and balance sheet to grow operating income dollars and earnings per share at rates faster than sales.”  More

Consumers will likely see higher produce prices in the coming days due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexican goods, Target CEO Brian Cornell said.
Prices for strawberries, avocados and bananas could rise, Cornell said, after the 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect Tuesday.
Cornell made the comments in a CNBC interview after Target posted fourth-quarter earnings.

Shoppers will likely see produce prices increase in the coming days due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexican imports, Target CEO Brian Cornell said Tuesday.
The Trump administration’s 25% levies on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with an additional 10% duty on Chinese imports, took effect Tuesday.

Cornell said Target relies heavily on Mexican produce during the winter months, and the tariffs could force the company to raise prices on fruits and vegetables as soon as this week.
“Those are categories where we’ll try to protect pricing, but the consumer will likely see price increases over the next couple of days,” he told CNBC in an interview after Target released its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.
“If there’s a 25% tariff, those prices will go up,” Cornell added.
Cornell said prices could rise for produce like strawberries, avocados and bananas.

Read more CNBC tariffs coverage

During an investor day later that morning, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said it was too early to provide more specifics on the products and categories that will see price increases because “teams are working through it in real time” and the company has to look at pricing holistically.

“I’ll give you an example. We have $3 Christmas ornaments. We don’t want to have $3.60 Christmas ornaments. We want to keep them at $3. That means we have to think about margin elsewhere. So maybe we’ll take pricing up a little bit on stockings to cover where we are in Christmas ornaments,” said Gomez.
Another example he cited was Target’s “$5 tees.” The company wants to continue charging $5 flat for T-shirts. So while it may leave that price unchanged, it has more flexibility to hike prices for other products, such as dresses.
“So maybe we’ll look at dresses a little bit differently,” said Gomez. “So it’s actually not as simple as just like flowing through cost. We have to think about this from a consumer perspective and make sure that our pricing architecture makes sense and puts us in a place where we are competitive and we have affordable options.”

Target Corp. CEO, Brian Cornell speaks during an interview on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange November 28, 2014.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

While inflation has eased in recent months, price increases have not moderated as much as the Federal Reserve has hoped. High costs for food and housing have continued to stretch consumer budgets, and Trump’s tariffs have raised fears that households will face even higher expenses. The president and his advisors have contended the duties will not raise prices for consumers.
When asked if he had spoken to Trump directly about the impact tariffs will have on prices, Cornell told CNBC he has “not had that conversation” with the president and instead has relied on the retail industry’s lobbying arm to speak on Target’s behalf.
“We’ve certainly been very active in Washington making sure that we provide our point of view, and we rely on [the National Retail Federation] and the industry to provide our perspective to a broad number of members of the administration,” said Cornell. “So we worked very closely with [the NRF and the Retail Industry Leaders Association] to make sure that collectively, our voice is being heard and we can share some of our insights and potential implications.”
When asked about China, Cornell downplayed concerns about how the cumulative 20% duties on goods from the region will affect shoppers. Cornell said Target has reduced its reliance on China to about 30% of imports from more than 60%. It’s on pace to get that number down to below 25% by the end of the next year, added Gomez.
The company has been able to reduce its reliance on China by turning to emerging manufacturing markets in the Western Hemisphere. Currently, only 17% of Target’s apparel — a key high-margin category for the company — is manufactured in China after production was shifted to countries like Guatemala and Honduras, said Gomez. That shift in supply chain is key to getting products to customers faster and also doesn’t come with the same raw material concerns associating with sourcing cotton in China.
Cornell’s comments come after Target posted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s expectations but cast a pall over the current quarter. The company said it’s bracing for a weak current quarter in part because of how tariff concerns are impacting shopping, along with sliding consumer confidence, which dropped in February to its lowest level since 2021.
Target’s guidance is the latest warning sign about the health of the economy, as it joined other retailers like Walmart, E.l.f. Beauty and Home Depot in giving weaker-than-expected first-quarter or full-year guidance.

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