Macy's
Macy's runs department stores and Bloomingdale's, selling apparel and home goods across the US.
The call
Macy's is posting real comp gains and raised guidance, but it sits inside a department-store category that keeps shrinking around it.
Macy's sells clothing, home goods, and accessories through physical stores and online. The company is hard to replace because it owns many of its buildings and has loyal customers, but Amazon, Walmart, Target, and discount chains like TJX have been stealing customers for 20 years and are not blocked from doing so. The one thing that matters: whether Macy's newly remodeled stores and its Bloomingdale's luxury brand can actually attract customers back permanently, or if the recent sales gains will fade and the company simply declines more slowly than it would have anyway.
Why
01
AI pressure: Amazon Rufus and other AI shopping agents. AI agents that compare prices and buy across sites could route shoppers past Macy's entirely, especially for basics. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Amazon, Walmart, Target, TJX, and Nordstrom Rack. These retailers have pulled share from department stores for 20 years, cutting Macy's revenue and headcount even as it now posts comp gains. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Owned real estate, Bloomingdale's luxury brand ties, and loyalty/credit card data that rivals can't easily copy.
What would change this call
Q2 FY2026 comps reported around September 2, 2026. Shows whether the turnaround is fleet-wide or fading after four good quarters.
Whether Reimagine store comps (+2.4%) hold or decay as the program scales past 200 stores. Tests if renovation gains are real share capture or a temporary remodel bump.
Bloomingdale's comps staying near double digits versus dropping toward mid-single digits. Indicates whether luxury growth is durable or a short-lived post-pandemic catch-up.
Whether Reimagine store comps (+2.4%) hold or decay as the program scales past 200 stores. Tests if renovation gains are real share capture or a temporary remodel bump.
Bloomingdale's comps staying near double digits versus dropping toward mid-single digits. Indicates whether luxury growth is durable or a short-lived post-pandemic catch-up.
Key numbers
- Q1 FY2026 comps +3.0%, fourth straight positive quarter
- FY2025 revenue $23.01B, down 3.6% year over year
- Headcount 90,134, down from a 2017 peak of 148,300
Named risks
- Department-store category forecast to shrink 0.5% in 2026, capping upside even with share gains.
- Renewed activist takeover pressure from Arkhouse, still a shareholder as of May 2025.
- Tariffs caused ~30bps margin drag in Q1 2026, guided $0.10-$0.20 EPS hit for FY2026.
- Extended store-closure timeline (remaining ~65 closures through 2028) creates prolonged execution uncertainty.
- Competitors like Dillard's backfilling vacated Macy's real estate could hurt remaining mall anchor traffic.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Nordstrom Rack | gaining on | Planned 23 new stores early 2026 even as parent closed two full-line stores |
| TJX (off-price) | gaining on | Off-price expansion continues as department store category forecast -0.5% in 2026 |
| Dillard's | gaining on | Opened new store in former Macy's location, Fairfield Commons OH, March 2026 |
| Walmart | contesting | Mass-merchant pricing pressure ongoing through 2026 |
| Target | contesting | Continues to compete for mid-market apparel and home share, 2026 |
Questions people ask
- Is Macy's profitable in 2026?
- Yes. Macy's raised FY2026 guidance to EPS of $2.00 to $2.20 and revenue of $21.5B to $21.8B on June 3, 2026, after Q1 FY2026 (ended May 2, 2026) comparable sales rose 3.0 percent, its best Q1 comp in four years and fourth straight quarterly gain.
- Could AI replace jobs at Macy's?
- Macy's launched 'Ask Macy's,' a Gemini/Google Cloud-powered AI shopping agent, in March 2026 to handle styling and product discovery. Management frames it as augmenting, human-in-the-loop assistance rather than replacing associates; meanwhile headcount fell to 90,134 by Jan 31, 2026, down 4.31 percent YoY, mostly from store closures.
- Who is Macy's biggest competitor?
- Amazon, Walmart, Target, TJX off-price chains, and Nordstrom Rack all compete freely with no structural barrier, and have taken share from department stores for two decades; Nordstrom Rack alone planned 23 new stores in early 2026 even as parent Nordstrom closed two full-line locations.
- Who owns Macy's, Inc.?
- Macy's is publicly traded on the NYSE under ticker M with no controlling parent, market cap around $6.2 billion as of July 20, 2026. Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a new roughly 1.1 percent stake (about $55M) in its Q1 2026 13F filed May 15, 2026, its first Macy's position under CEO Greg Abel.
- Could Macy's be taken private again?
- Activist investors Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital pursued a take-private bid that reached $24.80 per share ($6.9B) before Macy's board terminated talks on July 15, 2024, citing lack of committed financing. As of May 22, 2025, Arkhouse remained a shareholder and had not ruled out a renewed bid.
- Is Macy's stock a good investment in 2026?
- Macy's traded at $23.57 with a 52-week range of $11.77 to $26.10 as of July 20, 2026, market cap about $6.2 billion. The company posted its fourth straight quarter of positive comps in Q1 FY2026, but the department-store category is forecast to contract 0.5 percent in 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-06-03Reports Q1 FY2026 comps +3.0%, raises full-year guidance to EPS $2.00-$2.20
- 2026-05-15Berkshire Hathaway discloses ~1.1% Macy's stake, ~$55M, first under CEO Greg Abel
- 2026-05-02Q1 FY2026 ends: Bloomingdale's comps +10.2%, record Q1
- 2026-03-01Launches 'Ask Macy's,' Gemini-powered AI shopping agent
- 2026-01-09Announces 14 additional store closures across 12 states
- 2025-05-22Arkhouse confirmed still a shareholder, open to renewed takeover bid
- 2024-07-15Macy's board terminates Arkhouse/Brigade take-private talks at $24.80/share
- 2024-03Arkhouse/Brigade raise take-private offer to $24/share
- 2024-01Macy's board rejects Arkhouse/Brigade $21/share take-private bid
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Macy's Reports Strong Q1 2026 Results (2026-06-03)
- Macy's Inc. Profile (2026-03-15)
- Macy's (M) Earnings Date and Reports 2026 (2026-07-13)
- Macy's Bets on AI & Digital Innovation (2026-06-26)
- M Q1 2026 Earnings Report (2026-06-02)
- Macy's Reports Strong Q1 2026 Results (2026-06-04)
- Macy's vs Nordstrom Comparative Analysis (2026-04-02)
- Macy's Credits AI, Reimagined Stores and Loyalty Data for Growth (2026-03-18)
- Macy's: Number of Employees 2012-2026
- Macy's shrinking again with new round of store closings (2026-01-08)
- The big picture behind Ask Macy's (2026-04-21)
- Berkshire Bought New Stocks, Shed Some Big Names in First Quarter Without Buffett as CEO (2026-05-15)