Kohl’s Corporation stock (NYSE: KSS) sold off sharply in Monday trading on December 22, 2025, underscoring just how jumpy this name remains after a meme-stock-flavored year. By early afternoon, KSS traded around $21.6, down roughly 7% on the session, after opening near $23.20 and touching an intraday low around $21.69. Volume was a little over 2.2 million shares at the time of the quote—active, but not the kind of panic stampede you’d see in a full-blown capitulation day. [1]
If you’re trying to make sense of Kohl’s stock right now, the market’s “story stack” is basically three layers deep:
- Today’s price drop (and why it can move fast either direction)
- A still-skeptical Wall Street forecast picture—despite improving guidance
- A heavy short-interest overhang that keeps volatility on a hair trigger
Here’s what’s new today (Dec. 22), what analysts are forecasting, and what matters next for KSS shareholders.
What happened to Kohl’s stock today (Dec. 22): a sharp pullback after recent strength
Market data showed a meaningful downside move in KSS on Dec. 22, with shares down about 6%–7% by early afternoon depending on the time/venue of the quote. [2]
One widely circulated mid-day market recap framed the move earlier in the session as a ~3.4% decline with unusually light trading at that moment—an example of how thin liquidity can exaggerate intraday swings in a stock that already attracts event-driven trading. [3]
The key point for readers: Kohl’s is trading like a stock with two personalities—part turnaround story, part sentiment-driven volatility machine.
Today’s big “watch-me” metric: short interest is elevated and rising
On December 22, a short-interest update making the rounds highlighted that short interest increased about 3.76% since the prior report, with 28.58 million shares sold short—a very large bearish bet by any normal retail-stock standard. [4]
Different data providers express that short positioning slightly differently (because “float” calculations vary), but the headline is consistent: Kohl’s short interest is unusually high.
- One dataset pegged short interest at 28.58 million shares, about 25.74% of float, with roughly 3.0 days to cover. [5]
- Another described the same 28.58 million shares as roughly 35.86% of shares available for trading, with about 2.95 days to cover. [6]
Either way, this is the kind of setup that can amplify both drops and rallies: bad days can feed on themselves, and good news can force short covering.
A separate “plumbing” data point also matters here: shorting doesn’t look prohibitively expensive at the moment. One lending snapshot showed an estimated borrow rate around 0.61%, with shares available to borrow (at that time) listed at 2,000,000. [7]
Kohl’s stock forecast: why analyst price targets still imply downside
Despite Kohl’s improving its outlook in late November, the consensus analyst view remains cautious—and importantly, price targets lag the current share price after KSS’s big run.
As of Dec. 22, one widely followed compilation showed:
- Consensus rating: “Sell”
- Average 12‑month price target: $15.55
- Target range: $7 to $24
- Implied move: about -27.8% from the then-current price area [8]
Another summary using a slightly different analyst set put the consensus at “Reduce” with an average target around $15.73, and a ratings mix that leaned heavily toward Hold/Sell rather than Buy. [9]
So why the disconnect—why would a stock trade around $21–$22 while the “average target” sits in the mid‑$15s?
Because the market is weighing two competing ideas:
- Turnaround progress is real (guidance improved, margins stabilizing, cash flow better), but…
- Revenue trends are still negative, and there’s skepticism about whether Kohl’s can grow again without leaning too hard on promotions.
The last major fundamental catalyst: Q3 results beat expectations and guidance improved
The most important fundamental foundation under KSS right now is still the late‑November earnings update.
Kohl’s reported third-quarter fiscal 2025 results (quarter ended Nov. 1, 2025) showing:
- Net sales down 2.8% year over year
- Comparable sales down 1.7%
- Gross margin up 51 basis points
- Diluted EPS of $0.07 and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.10 [10]
The company also raised its full‑year 2025 outlook, projecting:
- Net sales down 3.5% to 4%
- Comparable sales down 2.5% to 3%
- Adjusted operating margin of 3.1% to 3.2%
- Adjusted diluted EPS of $1.25 to $1.45
- Capex around $400 million [11]
Reuters summarized that the company had raised its annual forecasts again, pointing to initiatives such as expanding coupon-eligible brands, investing in private labels, and leaning into partnerships (including Sephora) to appeal to value-focused shoppers. [12]
That guidance upgrade helps explain why KSS surged in late November—and also why today’s pullback is happening from a much higher perch than earlier in 2025. [13]
Dividend: Kohl’s has a payout, but it’s no longer the “big yield” story
Kohl’s declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, payable December 24, 2025 to shareholders of record as of December 10, 2025. [14]
That’s meaningful mostly as a signal: management is trying to balance shareholder returns with the realities of a retailer still fighting to stabilize sales and reinvest in the business.
Leadership and governance: Michael Bender is now the permanent CEO
One of the biggest “non‑financial” catalysts this year was leadership churn—and the market’s sensitivity to it.
Kohl’s board appointed Michael J. Bender as CEO effective immediately (announced Nov. 24, 2025), after he served as interim CEO since May 1, 2025. [15]
This followed the termination of prior CEO Ashley Buchanan after an investigation found undisclosed conflicts tied to vendor-related transactions (the company said it was not related to financial performance). [16]
Investors don’t usually cheer CEO drama. But markets do like clarity, and a permanent CEO appointment can reduce uncertainty—at least until the next quarterly report reopens the debate.
Insider trading update: CFO Jill Timm sold shares under a trading plan
Another data point circulating in recent coverage: CFO Jill Timm sold 25,000 shares at about $22.75 on December 4, 2025, a transaction disclosed via SEC filing and described as executed under a prearranged 10b5‑1 trading plan. [17]
Insider sales don’t automatically mean “bad news”—executives sell for plenty of boring reasons. But in a stock where sentiment is hypersensitive, these details often get pulled into the narrative.
The “meme-stock” factor is still part of the KSS price action
If Kohl’s price action feels a bit… feral, that’s not your imagination.
In July 2025, Reuters reported that Kohl’s shares briefly doubled intraday amid retail-trader activity in a move analysts said looked reminiscent of prior meme-stock surges. [18]
Fast forward to late November: KSS had another explosive move after earnings and guidance, with the stock showing a dramatic step-up in price over just a couple of sessions. [19]
Combine:
- high short interest,
- a stock that’s been a retail-trader favorite, and
- meaningful event-driven catalysts (earnings/guidance/CEO news),
…and you get a ticker that can trade like it’s attached to a leaf blower.
What to watch next: the catalysts that could reset Kohl’s stock again
1) Holiday season performance and promotion strategy
Management has been explicit about value and promotions as part of the playbook. The risk is that promotions defend traffic but pressure margins; the upside is that better traffic can stabilize comps and inventory. The company’s full-year outlook still assumes sales declines, so investors are watching for signs the trend is bending. [20]
2) Margins, inventory discipline, and cash flow
Kohl’s highlighted gross margin improvement and other operational progress in Q3, and also discussed balance sheet and financing changes in its Q3 release—details that matter because retailers live or die by cash flow when demand is choppy. [21]
3) The next earnings date window (early March 2026)
Kohl’s has not confirmed its next earnings date yet, but at least one earnings calendar estimates the next report around March 10, 2026, based on prior scheduling patterns. [22]
4) Short interest and positioning
Given the size of the short position, any strong catalyst—positive or negative—can create overshoots. Short interest is not a crystal ball, but for KSS it’s a real-time gauge of how crowded the skepticism trade has become. [23]
Bottom line for Kohl’s stock on Dec. 22: a tug-of-war between turnaround momentum and skepticism
Kohl’s stock is down hard today, but the deeper story is bigger than one red candle:
- The company has improved guidance and posted a notable earnings/revenue beat in Q3, which helped reprice the stock upward. [24]
- Yet Wall Street’s consensus price targets remain below where KSS trades now, suggesting analysts still doubt the durability of the rebound. [25]
- Meanwhile, short interest remains extremely elevated, keeping volatility high and making the stock unusually sensitive to positioning shifts. [26]
Kohl’s can absolutely keep surprising people—this stock has made a habit of it in 2025. But right now, the market is pricing KSS as a company that has made progress without fully escaping the gravitational pull of declining sales trends and a skeptical analyst community.
References
1. stockanalysis.com, 2. stockanalysis.com, 3. www.marketbeat.com, 4. www.benzinga.com, 5. www.marketbeat.com, 6. www.benzinga.com, 7. www.marketbeat.com, 8. stockanalysis.com, 9. www.marketbeat.com, 10. corporate.kohls.com, 11. corporate.kohls.com, 12. www.reuters.com, 13. stockanalysis.com, 14. corporate.kohls.com, 15. corporate.kohls.com, 16. apnews.com, 17. www.stocktitan.net, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. stockanalysis.com, 20. corporate.kohls.com, 21. corporate.kohls.com, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. www.benzinga.com, 24. corporate.kohls.com, 25. stockanalysis.com, 26. www.benzinga.com
