Investors and economists will watch the April job openings data closely for signs of whether the labor market is cooling or staying strong. This report can influence expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate policy. Openings in the U.S. declined by 56,000 in March1.
This highly cited and anticipated release is a monthly employment report that measures how many jobs were added or lost in the U.S. economy, excluding certain categories of workers such as farm employees, unincorporated self-employed, unpaid volunteers etc2. The U.S. added 115,000 jobs in April. A positive jobs report in May would mark a three-month run of positive non-farm payrolls3.
Up 74% over the last twelve months, Macy’s has been a surprise given the contrast between the stock performance, and the retailers’ underlying financial performance. Macy’s has been successful at increasing net income but has struggled to create topline growth. It is a narrative that has plagued the company over the last few years as it has closed some stores. In its most recent quarterly results, Macy’s net sales, “inclusive” of closed stores, declined by 3.2%.
While it’s certainly encouraging to see stronger earnings, you can only make more from less for so long. In the company’s most recent quarter, total revenues declined slightly to $7.9 billion4.
Looking to next week, investors will likely be looking to see if Macy’s can show some signs of life in terms of sales growth at its remaining locations. There were some encouraging signs last quarter, including comp sales growth of 9.9% for Bloomingdales, and a 17.1% increase in credit card revenues. That story will need to continue for the stock to maintain its momentum. 2026 guidance is calling for net sales of $21.4 billion to $21.65 billion. Conservatively, that’s about a 1.65% decline year over year.
Lululemon saw net revenue gains of 5% in 2025, resulting in revenues of $11.1 billion5. The growth was primarily the result of international markets which saw net revenue increase by a strong 22%, while the Americas saw a net revenue decrease of 1%. Despite the revenue gains, Lululemon is down 37% year to date, as investors struggle with lower net income, and rather tepid guidance for 2026.
In all, diluted earnings per share declined to $5.01 in the fourth quarter vs. earnings of $6.14 per share in Q4 of 2024.
Looking ahead, investors will be looking for Lululemon to improve earnings. Guidance is calling for diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $12.10 to $12.30 for the full fiscal year 2026. That would unfortunately mark a decline of roughly 7.2% versus 2025 results. So, the big question here is whether Lululemon can surprise to the upside.
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet shares have had a tough run year to date but were up 8% at one point this week ahead of its earnings release. The discount retailer has had a successful run with its business model. Its fiscal year 2025 results ended with a 16.6% increase in net sales year over year; bringing in over $2.6 billion and opening 86 new locations6. Net income per diluted share came in over 20% higher year over year to $3.89 per share.
With the strong performance, why is the stock down so much this year? A lot of it might be concern over the strength of the consumer to keep buying given the increased prices for food and fuel. Ollie’s provided an outlook for net sales in 2026 of $2.98 billion to $3.01 billion; roughly a 14% increase. While it might not be as high as last year, it would still be a strong performance in a challenging environment.
Next week investors will likely be looking for commentary on the retail environment, and whether Ollie’s can pull off an earnings beat.
1 https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/job-offers
2 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS
3 https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/non-farm-payrolls
4 https://www.macysinc.com/newsroom/news/news-details/2026/Macys-Inc–and-Macys-Return-to-Annual-Comparable-Sales-Growth-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Year-2025-Results-Exceed-Guidance/default.aspx
5 https://corporate.lululemon.com/media/press-releases/2026/03-17-2026-200620717
6 https://investors.ollies.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ollies-bargain-outlet-holdings-inc-announces-fourth-quarter
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