Holiday Shopping: Mixed Results for Retailers

The holiday shopping season of 2025 has wrapped up, and the results are in. Some retailers did well, while others fell short. Lululemon, a popular clothing brand, said its sales were close to the top of what they predicted. They expect to make about $3. 60 billion and earn around $4. 76 per share. But they didn't change their plans for profits or expenses. Their stock went up a bit before the market opened. Lululemon's CEO, who is leaving soon, said the holiday sales were good, but they had to offer big discounts to get people to buy. This hurt their profits. Other high-end brands also had to do this to sell old stock. Abercrombie & Fitch, another clothing store, had record sales but lowered their predictions for the year. Their stock dropped a lot before trading started.Birkenstock, the shoe maker, said their sales went up by 11%, but investors weren't happy and their stock fell. Savers Value Village, a thrift store, saw sales grow by 8. 4%, but they didn't change their predictions for the year. Their stock went up a little. On the bright side, American Eagle and Five Below did really well. American Eagle's sales went up a lot, especially for their Aerie brand. Five Below had a great holiday season, with sales up by 23. 2%. They raised their predictions for the year. Their CEO said they focused on giving customers great products at good prices. Overall, the holiday shopping season was solid, but not amazing. Some stores did well, while others struggled. Analysts expected this, and the National Retail Federation predicted sales would go up by 3. 7% to 4. 2%. But when you consider higher prices from tariffs, the actual growth might not be that much.