Kohl’s beat a Wall Street estimate on fourth-quarter earnings despite lower comparable sales and a missed overall revenue forecast.
Net income was $125 million, or $1.07 per diluted share, compared to net income of $48 million, or 43 cents per diluted share in the year-past quarter. Adjusted for one-time events, net income was $106 million, or 95 cents per adjusted diluted share, in the prior-year period.
Kohl’s outperformed a Zacks Investment Research analyst consensus estimate of 85 cents per adjusted diluted share, while revenues came up short of a $5.23 billion forecast.
Fourth-quarter comparable sales decreased 2.8% year over year, the company noted. Net sales decreased 3.9% year-over-year, to $4.97 billion, while total revenue declined to $5.17 billion from $5.4 billion from the year-previous period.
Operating income was $212 million compared to $126 million in the prior year quarter. Adjusted operating income was $202 million in the prior year-earlier period.
Full-year net income was $272 million, or $2.38 per diluted share, and adjusted net income was $186 million, or $1.62 per adjusted diluted share in the year past. This compares to net income of $109 million, or 98 cents per diluted share and adjusted net income of $167 million and $1.50 per adjusted diluted share in the prior year.
Net sales decreased 4% year-over-year, to $14.78 billion, with comparable sales down 3.1%. Total revenue slipped to $15.53 billion from $16.22 billion in the year previous.
Operating income was $624 million compared to $433 million in the earlier year. Adjusted operating income was $510 million compared to $509 million in the year before.
Kohl’s offered full fiscal-year guidance of a 2% decrease to flat net and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1 to $1.60.
In announcing fourth-quarter results, Michael Bender, Kohl’s CEO, said, “We are ending 2025 in a stronger position than we started, with important work still ahead of us. Over the past year, our efforts have been focused on resetting our foundation. This focus is intended to stabilize the business and strengthen our operational ability to build for a stronger future. In 2025, we made meaningful progress, despite our Q4 topline coming in softer than our expectations. We were able to manage the business with discipline, deliver improved earnings, and generate meaningful cash flow, all of which helped us strengthen our balance sheet. In 2026, we are committed to further strengthening our foundation by addressing operational opportunities, building on our strengths and modernizing our processes. We are confident that the work we are investing in now is essential for Kohl’s long-term benefit.”
