Macy’s jumps after Q4 profit beat and upbeat sales outlook offset cautious EPS guidance

Macy’s, Inc. (M) is up 3.9% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move higher appears tied to Macy’s fourth-quarter results coming in ahead of expectations on adjusted earnings, alongside commentary that its turnaround initiatives are helping drive positive comparable sales. Investors also seemed to focus on the company’s fiscal 2026 net sales range, even as profit guidance was more cautious amid tariff and macro uncertainty.

Details:

Macy’s reported fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.67 on net sales of about $7.6 billion, with comparable sales up around 1.8% year over year.

Full-year comparable sales were modestly positive, and the company highlighted progress in its “Bold New Chapter” strategy, including improved customer experience metrics and stronger performance at its luxury banners.

Management issued fiscal 2026 guidance calling for net sales of roughly $21.4 billion to $21.65 billion and EPS of about $1.90 to $2.10, framing the profit outlook as prudent given external volatility.

This could also be a relief rally: the quarter’s profit beat and signs of improving execution may have outweighed concerns about store closures and tariff-related cost pressure.

Sources:

Macy’s, Inc. Investor Relations, Associated Press, Investing.com

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$M Insider Trading Activity

$M insiders have traded $M stock on the open market 3 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 3 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $M stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

DANIELLE L. KIRGAN (EVP, Chief HR Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 185,000 shares for an estimated $3,807,996.
OLIVIER BRON (CEO, Bloomingdale's) sold 13,500 shares for an estimated $299,870

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$M Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 262 institutional investors add shares of $M stock to their portfolio, and 245 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

FMR LLC removed 8,847,026 shares (-92.7%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $195,076,923
SCHRODER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP removed 4,718,356 shares (-48.5%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $104,039,749
MARSHALL WACE, LLP added 3,154,758 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $69,562,413
UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 2,989,972 shares (-75.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $65,928,882
ARROWSTREET CAPITAL, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP removed 2,781,778 shares (-46.7%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $61,338,204
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC added 2,750,115 shares (+67.5%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $60,640,035
BALYASNY ASSET MANAGEMENT L.P. added 2,498,006 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $55,081,032

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$M Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $M in the last several months. We have seen 1 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 1 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Jefferies issued a "Buy" rating on 01/14/2026
UBS issued a "Sell" rating on 12/01/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $M, check out Quiver Quantitative's $M forecast page.

$M Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $M recently. We have seen 8 analysts offer price targets for $M in the last 6 months, with a median target of $23.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Dana Telsey from Telsey Advisory Group set a target price of $25.0 on 03/18/2026
Jay Sole from UBS set a target price of $9.0 on 03/09/2026
Blake Anderson from Jefferies set a target price of $27.0 on 01/14/2026
Alex Straton from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $21.0 on 12/05/2025
Brooke Roach from Goldman Sachs set a target price of $22.0 on 12/05/2025
Michael Binetti from Evercore ISI Group set a target price of $21.0 on 12/05/2025
Paul Lejuez from Citigroup set a target price of $24.0 on 12/04/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.