Retail Stores Closing Amidst Protests

Amazon, Target and Apple among those affected

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Jun 02, 2020
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Several retail giants have announced temporary closures and adjusted hours of their stores during the ongoing protests.

Apple (AAPL, Financial), Target (TGT, Financial) and Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon (AMZN, Financial), have decided to temporarily close certain locations and adjust their operating hours to help workers comply with curfews that have been placed in certain cities. Stores in locations where looting has become prominent alongside the peaceful protests have already seen damage in several cities.

The retail locations that are now closing once again had only recently opened as restrictions surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic have begun to lift.

Target

Retail giant Target announced that it will be adjusting store hours and closing some locations temporarily to prioritize the safety of employees and guests. Closures have already been enacted in stores in California, Georgia, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Amidst the pandemic, Target had seen stock prices drop to as low as $91.04 per share at the end of March. Since then, shares have been steadily on the rise, reaching a current price of $119.55 with a market cap of $60.34 billion as of June 2.

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GuruFocus shows a severe warning sign of a declining operating margin, but the company has also consistently been growing its revenue per share. Accoriding to the Peter Lynch chart, shares were trading above their intrinsic value at the end of 2019.

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Apple

Apple closed many of its stores on May 31 after stores were vandalized and looted in Minneapolis, Brooklyn and Washington, D.C. according to CNBC. Around half of Apple's 271 U.S. stores were closed due to the pandemic and the company had only recently begun efforts to reopen.

As of June 2, Apple shares were trading at $319.29, down 0.8%, with a market cap of $1.39 trillion. The price per share has been steadily rising as pandemic restrictions have been lifted.

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GuruFocus gives the company a profitability rank of 10 out of 10 with an operating margin and net margin beating over 95% of the industry. The company has seen debt decrease over the last several years, but still has a cash-to-debt ratio lower than 59.09% of the industry.

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Amazon

Amazon has also announced it will be limiting deliveries and adjusting their delivery routes due to the ongoing protests. Whole Foods, which was acquired by Amazon in 2017, is also closing certain locations and shifting store hours to comply with curfews and protect employees.

While Amazon has seen the same price tumbles as Target and Apple due to the pandemic, it has continued to rise to historic highs over the last several months. As of June 2, it was trading at $2,456.29 per share with a market cap of $1.23 trillion.

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GuruFocus gives the company a financial strenth rating of 6 out of 10, a profitability rating of 7 out of 10 and a valuation rank of 1 out of 10. One severe warning sign can be seen due to asset growth outweighing revenue growth. The Peter Lynch chart shows that the copmany is trading significantly above its intrinsic value.

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Other publicly traded companies that are seeing similar closures and adjusted store hours include CVS (CVS, Financial), Adidas (ADDY, Financial), Nike (NKE, Financial) and Walmart (WMT, Financial).

Disclosure: Author owns no stocks mentioned.

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