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KSKSS

Kohl's Corporation

$KSS·$2.2B·Department Stores·Consumer Cyclical
$17.50-3.6%YTD-2.9%1Y+13.9%
Mentions · last 7 days
2026-08-20: 9 posts2026-08-21: 24 posts2026-08-22: 20 posts2026-08-23: 42 posts118+27%
Price updated 2d ago·X counts updated 7d ago
KSKSS
$KSSKohl's Corporation
$17.50-3.58%118 posts+27%
AI analysisFundamentalsVoices on X
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AI verdict & sentimentAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Top X posts

Today's AI verdict on what's driving $KSS, plus how loud the X conversation is and which way it's leaning.

AI analysis

TickerTalks’ read on the fundamentals and what’s driving the move.

Comeback attemptAcceleratingAI verdict · as of 2026-08-29

The move is getting stronger, with heavier trading behind it.

Kohl's just crushed Q2, restarted a $100M buyback, and cut net debt in half — comps still slightly negative but tape confirming.

Kohl's operates a national mid-tier department-store chain — a business that has struggled with mall traffic and category positioning for years, now showing the specific data points that turnarounds are made of: margin expansion, deleveraging, and capital-return restart. The Q2 print was a real inflection.

What's actually here:

  • Comps are still slightly negative but stabilizing — Q1 of $3.17B declined 2% YoY on top of quarters between -3.6% and -5%; the trajectory is toward flat, not accelerating decline, and Q2 comps of -0.9% are much less bad than a year ago.
  • The Q2 EPS blowout is real — $1.28 vs $0.57 expected (+120%), driven by 305bps gross-margin expansion; the sell-side model is under-catching the margin story that shows up when a struggling retailer stops discounting to hold traffic.
  • The FY guide raise plus buyback restart is a specific inflection — FY guide raised to $1.80-2.40 EPS from prior lower range, plus a $100M buyback restart signals management confidence; net debt down to $504M from $958M year-over-year adds real deleveraging.
  • The value setup is striking — tangible book value of $36/share versus current $17.50 tape means the equity is trading below TBV, which is the specific setup a value-investor thesis works from; the 6.4x P/E and 69.5% FCF yield are cheap-compounder-in-transition math.

The forward path is that FQ3 earnings on Nov 24 delivering another comp-improvement quarter with the buyback deployed sustains the multi-quarter re-rate; the specific bear-case is that Kohl's still hasn't posted a positive-comp quarter and the mall-anchor concept has structural challenges. Holiday execution is the specific test for Q4.

Agrees with X sentimentThe bullish X read on the Q2 EPS $1.28 blowout, gross margin +305bps, guide raise to $1.80-2.40, $100M buyback restart, and $36 TBV framing is factually grounded on the reported and guided data; the -0.9% comps caveat is real but consistent with an early turnaround.

What to watch: FQ3 earnings on Nov 24 — specifically comparable sales trajectory (still negative but improving) and holiday-execution commentary. Buyback pace deployment is a secondary signal.

On the calendar: 2026-11-24 — FQ3 2026 earnings

turnaround confirmed recentbuyback restartedtbv discount

X sentiment

What the X crowd is saying right now — descriptive, summarised from the day’s posts.

Bullish sentiment27 posts analyzed · as of 2026-08-29

Kohl's sentiment on X is bullish after Q2. Adjusted EPS $1.28 crushed the $0.57 estimate (helped by ~$100M in tariff refunds), net sales $3.515B beat, and Kohl's raised FY26 adjusted EPS guide to $1.80-2.40 from $1.00-1.60 while restarting the buyback. Gross margin +305bps. Bulls argue the strategic-turnaround thesis is intact and the setup was compelling. Bears note the retailer trying to 'un-Dick's the space,' and premarket -4.5% on light rev before the raise flipped the tape. The base story is that the profit-and-guidance beat dominates.

Read the AI verdict + X sentiment for $KSS

  • One-line verdict on what's driving the move — fundamentals, momentum, both, or an event
  • Next dated catalyst when there is one (earnings, deal closing, activist clock)
  • X crowd read with bullish/bearish call + post volume
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What it does

Plain-English summary of the business — what they sell and how they make money.

Department store retailer selling apparel, footwear, and home goods through US suburban and strip-center stores.

Industry overviewAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Where Department Stores sits in its cycle right now — and what that implies for $KSS.

Department Stores · Consumer Cyclical

No material change from last week — Kohl's value and proprietary brands turnaround is the sole narrative here; consumer trade-down from premium department stores provides a modest structural tailwind, but the execution risk of the turnaround dominates over sector-level catalysts.

What this means for $KSS

Partial — Department store retailer selling apparel, footwear, and home goods through US suburban and strip-center stores; partial earnings exposure to department stores demand dynamics through its product portfolio.

Top industry ETF

$XRTSPDR S&P Retail ETF
+7.7%YTD
+1.9%1Y

Fundamentals & catalyst

Profitability, valuation, and the next earnings event — at a glance, with rule-of-thumb signals.

Key ratios

P/E
6.4How much investors are paying per dollar of profit the company actually earned in the last 12 months. Lower means the stock looks cheaper relative to earnings.~15–25 is typical for the S&P 500; high-growth names trade 30+; hyper-growth or speculative can be 100+ or negative.
ROIC
3.7%What percentage return the business earns on every dollar of capital (equity + debt) deployed in operations. The cleanest measure of business quality.Above ~15% is high-quality; consistently above 25% suggests a real moat. Below the company's cost of capital is value-destroying.
Op margin
3.2%Operating profit (after sales, marketing, R&D, and overhead but before interest and taxes) as a percentage of revenue. The clearest view of how well the underlying business is run.Mature business above 20% is healthy; software businesses can run 30%+; commodity / retail businesses operate in single digits.
FCF yield
69.5%Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capex) divided by the company's market cap. The cash-on-cash return you'd get owning the whole business at today's price.Above ~5% is attractive; below ~2% means you're paying up for growth. Capital-light businesses (software) run higher than capital-heavy ones (utilities).
P/S
0.1Same idea as P/E but per dollar of revenue. Useful for companies that aren't profitable yet, where P/E is meaningless.Under ~2 is cheap; software / SaaS often runs 8–15; well above 20 implies the market is pricing in very high future growth.
ROE
6.8%Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Similar to ROIC but counts only the equity side.Above 20% is strong, but can be inflated by leverage — a heavily indebted company can show high ROE with weak underlying ROIC.
Gross margin
39.4%Revenue minus the direct cost of producing what was sold, as a percentage of revenue. The first read on whether the product is structurally profitable.Software / SaaS is typically 70%+; consumer goods 30–50%; commodity / hardware businesses can be under 20%.
D/E
1.6Total debt divided by shareholders' equity. Measures how much the business runs on borrowed money versus owner capital.Under 1 is conservative; 1–2 is typical for mature businesses; over 2 is leveraged and more sensitive to interest rates.

Past earnings

QuarterReportedActualEstimateSurprise
Q2 2026Aug 26, 2026$1.28$0.58+119.6%
Q1 2026May 28, 2026$-0.13$-0.18+27.8%
Q4 2025Mar 10, 2026$1.07$0.86+24.4%
Q3 2025Nov 25, 2025$0.10$-0.13+176.9%
Next earningsTue, Nov 24·consensus EPS $0.03

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueYoYGrossOpEPSFCF
Q1 FY26$3.2B-2.0%37.6%1.5%$-0.12$-158.0M
Q4 FY25$5.2B-4.2%35.7%4.1%$1.12$640.0M
Q3 FY25$3.6B-3.6%42.4%2.2%$0.07$16.0M
Q2 FY25$3.5B-5.0%43.3%4.5%$1.37$708.0M

Forward consensus

4-year forecast · up to 9 analysts
FYRevenueRangeEPSRangeAnalysts
FY26$14.8B$14.8B – $14.9B$1.40$1.26 – $1.586
FY27$14.8B$14.6B – $14.8B$1.43$1.30 – $1.609
FY28$14.8B$14.5B – $15.0B$1.49$1.24 – $1.728
FY29$14.8B$14.3B – $15.2B$1.50$1.45 – $1.553

Setup & momentum

Volume, range, and moving-average position — the technical setup driving short-term moves.

Right now

Vol vs 30dToday's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.1.2×Today's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.
52w rangeWhere the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.44%Where the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.
vs 50d MALatest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.-4.0%Latest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.
vs 200d MALatest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.+1.6%Latest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.

Float & profile

FloatMid float · 111.6M shFree-float shares — the slice of issued stock actually available to trade. Lower buckets squeeze harder on a catalyst.Traded today4.2% of floatToday's volume as a percent of the free float. Above 5% on a single day is unusually high turnover for the available share count.β1.425-year weekly beta vs the S&P 500. Above 1.5 means the stock typically moves more than the index; below 0.8 moves less.

Insider activity

Recent open-market buys and sells by officers and directors — flagged when multiple insiders cluster.

Recent transactions

SellAug 3Christie RaymondSr. EVP, Chief Marketing Off.15.0K sh$300KSellAug 3Jennifer J. KentSr. EVP, CLO & Corp. Sec.22.9K sh$459KSellJul 16Mari SteinmetzSr. EVP, Chief People Officer53 sh$910SellApr 15Mari SteinmetzSr. EVP, Chief People Officer351 sh$5KSellApr 6Mari SteinmetzSr. EVP, Chief People Officer112 sh$1K
+ 49 other (37 awards · 12 inkinds) in window

See when $KSS insiders are putting their own money in

  • Real-time open-market buys and sells from Form 4 filings
  • Cluster-buy detection when multiple insiders pile in at once
  • 30 / 60 / 180-day windows so you can spot building conviction
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SEC filings

Material 8-K, 13D, S-3, and 424B5 events from the last 180 days — the filings that actually move the price.

Recent material filings

8-KPress release / Reg FDAug 268-K — Item 2.02: Earnings release · Item 7.01: Press release / Reg FD · Item 8.01: Other event
AI summary

Kohl's Corporation reported Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings (quarter ended August 1, 2026) and raised its full-year fiscal 2026 financial guidance. The company also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share, payable September 23, 2026 to holders of record September 9, 2026. The guidance raise paired with the Q2 earnings print is a meaningful positive indicator for Kohl's ongoing retail recovery and signals management confidence in the back half of fiscal 2026.

8-KOfficer or director changeAug 258-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change · Item 7.01: Press release / Reg FD
AI summary

Kohl's Corporation restructured its marketing leadership: the Chief Marketing Officer role was eliminated and Christie Raymond's employment ends September 9, 2026. Arianne Parisi (current EVP and Chief Digital Officer) was promoted to the new SVP Chief Customer Officer role starting September 1, 2026, consolidating marketing, brand, loyalty, personalization, media, and digital commerce under a single leader. This signals a strategic pivot toward a unified customer experience organization at the struggling retailer.

3New insider — initial holdingsJul 293
AI summary

Kohl's Corporation (KSS) filed a Form 3 for Niren Chaudhary, the newly appointed independent director (reported in the same-day 8-K), reflecting no beneficial ownership of KSS securities at the time of appointment on July 28-29, 2026. This is a routine initial insider ownership disclosure for a new board member who has not yet received equity grants.

8-KOfficer or director changeJul 298-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change · Item 7.01: Press release / Reg FD
AI summary

Kohl's Corporation (KSS) made two board changes on July 28, 2026: Thomas Schlifske retired as Chair, with another independent director appointed Chair immediately; and Niren Chaudhary was appointed as a new independent director, joining the Audit Committee. Chaudhary will receive approximately $145,000 in restricted shares on August 14, 2026 (pro-rated from annual $150K RSU grant) per the standard non-employee director program. No family relationships or material transactions are disclosed. This is a routine board refresh.

8-KMaterial agreementJul 18-K — Item 1.01: Material agreement
AI summary

Kohl's extended its revolving credit facility maturity by five years to June 30, 2031 via Amendment No. 2 with Wells Fargo as agent, also modifying the Applicable Margin pricing grid. Positive liquidity management extending the revolver runway.

8-KOfficer or director changeJun 158-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change
AI summary

Kohl's Corporation (KSS) filed an 8-K Item 5.02 on June 15, 2026 reporting a departure, election, or appointment of a director or officer. Body unavailable — excerpt cuts off before the specific personnel change details are disclosed.

8-KPress release / Reg FDMay 288-K — Item 2.02: Earnings release · Item 7.01: Press release / Reg FD · Item 8.01: Other event
AI summary

KSS (KSS) reported financial results for a recent fiscal period in an 8-K filed under Item 2.02. The filing includes key financial metrics including revenue, operating income, and per-share results. Results of operations disclosures under Item 2.02 typically accompany an earnings press release furnished as an exhibit, making them available concurrently with the earnings call. These filings provide the market with transparent, timely financial performance data for investment analysis.

8-KOfficer or director changeMay 218-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change · Item 5.07: Shareholder vote
AI summary

KSS (KSS) disclosed the results of its annual meeting of shareholders in an 8-K filing under Item 5.07. Shareholders voted on an equity incentive plan. All management-sponsored proposals were approved by majority shareholder vote. Annual meeting results are a routine disclosure that confirms shareholder ratification of the board's composition and compensation practices.

+ 18 other (6 13Gs · 3 routine 8-Ks · 2 proxys · 1 10-Q) in window

Recent news

Latest headlines from major outlets, sourced and timestamped — context for whatever just moved.

Kohl's Q2 Earnings Beat Shifts Focus to Holiday Execution and Marginszacks.com·3d agoKohl's Stock Is Up 15.6% in 3 Months: Is the Rebound Sustainable?zacks.com·3d agoIs Kohl's Stock a Buy as Value Meets a Still-Fragile Sales Recovery?zacks.com·3d agoThe Kohl's Recesson247wallst.com·4d agoKohl's Corporation (KSS) Q2 2027 Earnings Call Transcriptseekingalpha.com·4d ago

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