Michelle Chapman, AP Business Writer
Pullbacks by American shoppers are paying more attention from retailers nationwide about Abercrombie & Fitch on Wednesday about the potential sale in 2025.
U.S. consumer confidence fell sharply last month, according to the conference committee. Respondents to the Board’s survey expressed concern over inflation as trade and tariff mentions increased significantly, the board said.
This week, President Donald Trump’s imposition of new tariffs on America’s three biggest trading partners promptly retaliated from Mexico, Canada and China, sending financial markets to tailspin. Tariffs are threatening to rekindle inflation. Inflation appears to have begun to check high in recent weeks, creating more uncertainty for families and businesses.
Trump imposed a 25% tax or tariff on Mexican and Canadian imports, but he restricted collection to 10% on Canadian energy. Trump also doubled the tariff he slapped on Chinese goods last month to 20%.
On Wednesday, reporting its latest quarterly performance, Abercrombie & Fitch said it expects sales growth of 3% to 5% in 2025. He said this is worse than Wall Street was far below the 16% sales growth it achieved last year.
Stocks slipped over 14% on Wednesday, falling almost 46% this year.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, wrote Wednesday. However, he also said that Abercrombie had a very good 2024 in 2024, which would be more difficult to match in 2025.
“It makes sense to expect growth moderation, as reflected in the company’s outlook,” Sanders said.
However, Abercrombie & Fitch is on the list of retailers’ growth that not all companies have reached the banner year in 2024 and is on the list of growth that will see a slowdown ahead of time.
Last year, sales and profits slipped for targets, but retailers said this week that tariffs in Mexico, Canada and China meant there was “meaning pressure” in the profits of starting 2025 in addition to other costs. Even before the trade war intensified this week, the target reported a decline in profits and sales and declines in sales during the key period leading up to the end of the year holidays, pausing before more customers broke their wallets.
Target CEO Brian Cornell said Tuesday that in a few days, Americans will be able to see food prices begin to rise, particularly agricultural products from Mexico, such as avocados. Mexican President Claudia Sinbaum said on Tuesday that details will come in response to the 25% tariffs the US has imposed on US goods.
Cornell refused to speak specifically about the potential price increases that shoppers might see on target shelves, but he warned that there is a rise in price for some products.
Target share has fallen almost 15% this year, with specialized retailers in the minority seeing stock profits becoming minorities. GAP shares fell 15% this year, while American Eagle, Guess and Zumiez all fell about 29%.
Like Abercrombie & Fitch, Walmart flourished in 2024, but could potentially move forward.
Later last month, the country’s biggest retailer said revenue per share this year could be 27 cents below Wall Street’s expectations. The company expects annual revenue to increase by 3% or 4% to between $6675.7 billion and $67.405 billion. It also caught Wall Street off guard with sales forecasts for 2025 close to $708 billion.
Original issue: March 5th, 2025, 12:20pm EST
