Shares of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wayfair (NYSE: W), and Gap (NYSE: GPS) were all rising today as investors regained some of their optimism for retail stocks. Several retailers reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results recently that helped boost the share price of some retail stocks today. As of 3:12 p.m. ET Amazon had gained 3.9%, Wayfair had jumped 10.9%, and Gap was up 12.3%.
Caught in this vortex was online furniture and home furnishings retailer Wayfair (NYSE: W); it didn't help that on the preceding day, an analyst launched coverage of the stock with the equivalent of a sell recommendation. After market close on Monday, Sanford C. Bernstein inaugurated its coverage, tagging Wayfair stock at "underperform." Analyst Nikhil Devnani placed a $45 per share price target on the shares, which at the time was more than 10% below Wayfair's closing price.
John Ballard (Wayfair): Shares of the leading online home goods store have fallen 86% after reaching an all-time high of $369 in 2021. Wayfair's broad selection, investments in logistics infrastructure, and growing supplier base has led to phenomenal growth. In the first quarter of this year, revenue fell 13.9% over the year-ago quarter, which has caused much skepticism on Wall Street over Wayfair's growth prospects.