TD Cowen analysts upgraded Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) to Outperform from Market Perform and set a new price target of $30.00, previously $23.00. The upgrade decision is based on early evidence, indicating that the new CEO, Tom Kingsbury, brings practical retail ideas that are well-suited for success after a prolonged period of insufficient change within the company.
Kingsbury, who officially took on the CEO role in early February and previously served as CEO of BURL from 2008 to 2019, has a strong background in merchandising and is leveraging his experience to drive positive transformations.
The analysts highlighted pragmatic adjustments being made to the stores, such as removing unused registers, introducing appealing gifting tables, and adopting a more modern markdown cadence. These changes are believed to be supported by the positive reception of new Sephora shop-in-shops, currently present in 605 stores, which are outperforming other areas of the business.