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Economy
Target market cap losses swell to $15 billion as shares drop again amid woke backlash
2023-06-11
[NYPOST] Target shareholders took a beating again on Friday, with the big-box retailer’s stock falling 3.26%.

The backlash from the Pride controversy coincides with the stock losing over $15 billion in market value since mid-May.

Shares plummeted to $126.99 when the market closed after eclipsing $161 just last month after a third Wall Street firm downgraded the shares on concerns over slowing sales.

Since the controversy began, Target’s market cap has fallen $15 billion to $58.61 billion as of Friday’s closing price.

Target’s market value was over $74 billion before the polarizing Pride displays made national news, as tracked by Dow Jones Market Data Group.

Target initially irked conservatives with Pride displays that featured items such as "tuck-friendly" women’s swimsuits, but the LGBTQ community became outraged when the displays were dialed back ahead of Pride Month.

The retailer recently suffered nine straight days of losses on the heels of backlash from both sides of the issue and finished the week with another losing streak.

Entering Friday, Target’s stock value had fallen roughly 3.1% in the last five days, after plummeting about 18.5% the last month. Already near a three-year low, Target shares have been hit with a series of downgrades amid the controversy over Pride products.

The company’s latest snub from Citi analyst Paul Lejuez lowers the stock to neutral from buy and pits the troubled retailer against rival Walmart, which Lejuez said in a note on Friday would begin gobbling up market share.

Posted by:Fred

#28   In what appears to be a full embrace of its new target audience,

...said target which still won’t drink the tuff, no matter how much it might approve the new direction in theory.
Posted by: trailing wife   2023-06-11 23:30  

#27  Bud Light Appears In Promotional Material For "All Ages Drag Show Party" In Flagstaff

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" - could that be Bud Light's latest genius marketing move?

The beer brand, still under intense fire and a suffering a sales collapse that came as a result of its embrace of 'trans' influencer Dylan Mulvaney, is (or was) reportedly co-sponsoring an "all ages drag show party", according to a report from Fox News.

In what appears to be a full embrace of its new target audience, Bud Light may have co-sponsored an "all-ages Pride event" in Flagstaff, Arizona, Fox News writes. The event is called "Pride in the Pines" and includes drag queens.

Bud Light was previously listed as co-sponsor for the event on posters, which is also being described as a "family festival event" and a family-friendly, "safe space". Old Navy, Toyota and Coca-Cola USA are also sponsoring the event, Fox News reported.

Flagstaff Pride's Twitter account wrote this week that Bud Light was not a sponsor, despite appearing on a poster for the event: "We put out an incorrect promotional poster which included Bud Light as a sponsor."

Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch commented that "Bud Light is not a sponsor of this event. The event organizers have issued a corrected version of the poster." But while Anheuser-Busch appears to be contesting that it is involved in the event, Flagstaff Pride's website still prominently displayed "Bud Light" as a sponsor as of Sunday morning.

Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-06-11 22:29  

#26  
^
Oh please cover my eyes.
I can never unsee you verse.
Posted by: The Walking Unvaxed   2023-06-11 21:45  

#25  An Afrikan background encumbers
Her men with no gay in their slumbers,
Not counting the gangs
In which everyone bangs
One another for safety in numbers.

Apologies for disagreeable "her" but "Black" seemed a bit sweeping and broad-brushed even to my sumi-e with mop self. No idea whether the "information" at the link is true or representative.
Posted by: Elmaiger Snereper2433   2023-06-11 21:30  

#24  They don’t make any money shaking down Kmart.
Posted by: Super Hose   2023-06-11 17:34  

#23  The left is in a win-win situation and the corporations should realize this. If the company goes woke it may go broke or it is in control of the leftists as a woke company. The left does not care that Target or Am-Bev lost 10’s of billions. They only like Capitalism that they control or benefit them.
Posted by: Airandee   2023-06-11 16:25  

#22  Africa does not do gay.

I'd call it gay adjacent.
Posted by: Enver Slager8035   2023-06-11 14:17  

#21  ^Well, they loudly proclaim that in any event.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-06-11 14:14  

#20  Africa does not do gay.
Posted by: Super Hose   2023-06-11 14:11  

#19  ^ Wonder if they'll send it all to the poor in Africa, like they do every year with the shirts and hats with the losing Superbowl team's logo
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-06-11 14:06  

#18  Think of the all the fabulous 90% off sales of gay clothing at Target.
Posted by: Enver Slager8035   2023-06-11 13:41  

#17  Swipe IDs or fingerprints as you come in the store for those who do not shop online for pickup.
Posted by: Super Hose   2023-06-11 13:29  

#16  The coming solution will be ruinous the idea of in-person shopping and produce choice/handling. Security infrastructure and massive product handling systems will increase the cost of everything we take for granted at the retail end of food and consumer goods, at least in urban areas.

You either pre-select items and pay before arrival at a distribution site where you pickup your packages/groceries, or you go through tedious pointing at product behind glass partitions and the order is assembled remotely while you wait and after you pay. In effect stop and grab becomes impossible because you never handle things until you have paid for them.

We destroy the quality of life in America because we are too weak-willed to arrest people because it might seem racist, homophobic, or just mean.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2023-06-11 12:54  

#15  Shrinkage is closer to 50% after a dip in the pool.
Posted by: Super Hose   2023-06-11 12:36  

#14  Took two times to find it, but here's one article I read yesterday on shrink hitting a record:

CEO Talk Of "Shrink" Hits Record On Earnings Calls Amid Nationwide Shoplifting Crisis
Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-06-11 12:30  

#13  And in the old days, much of the shrinkage was from employees.
Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-06-11 12:14  

#12  A guy on Gutfeld the other night who is a regular on Shark Tank, said that "shrinkage", meaning retail theft losses, usually runs about 2% for most businesses, and that it was an impact on the usual roughly 15% margin most businesses expect to make. He commented that in San Francisco, the CVS was running about 12% shrinkage and rising, this making the closure decision pretty mandatory.
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2023-06-11 12:04  

#11  Well, I was gladly wrong about the Bud Light/AB thing, thinking that it would have blown over already (like the Target toilet tumult), but Target will be different. Bud Light is just one brand whereas Target offers countless brands and has a different customer base.

I hope I'm wrong in a way, but I may think about buying TGT stock once I feel it has bottomed.

OT - I read an article yesterday about how "shrinkage" is really hitting the bottom line of department stores. And I'm not sure who in their right mind would want to try and run a business in California right now. Maybe if a few shops in Beverly Hills or Sacramento get robbed blind will they reconsider.
Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-06-11 11:28  

#10  ESG Dystopia: Why Corporations Are Doubling Down On Woke Even As They Lose Billions
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-06-11 09:58  

#9  ...well, given enough government money, its not unlikely a business has no problem killing off its customer base.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2023-06-11 09:38  

#8  /\ Gummit money doing the talk'n maybe ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2023-06-11 09:14  

#7  Customer base is not even a low level consideration in DEI.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2023-06-11 09:13  

#6  As Peter Drucker said, an organization can have one mission. As soon as it has two or more, it will fail at all of them.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2023-06-11 08:18  

#5  Absolute failure to understand your customer base. Too many suits too little acumen.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2023-06-11 08:02  

#4  Like the Bud Lite customers, they aren’t coming back. The bathroom boycott was a warning shot.
Posted by: Super Hose   2023-06-11 07:24  

#3  'Everyone takes a beating now and then'

Henry Hill in Goodfellas
Posted by: Raj   2023-06-11 00:41  

#2  Oh, that LGBTQ+ gang, they are sooooo tolerant.
Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-06-11 00:12  

#1  (10Jun23, Oklahoma City, OK) Several Targets stores evacuated after bomb threats (kfor.com) Threatening email in first story (6:30PM) with some store evacuations followed by "all clear"
(9:30PM update).

Prank, false flag or who knows what at this point...
Posted by: magpie   2023-06-11 00:10  

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