Macy’s Stock (NYSE: M) on December 7, 2025: Earnings Beat, Store Closures and Fresh Price Targets

All the latest news, forecasts and analysis on Macy’s stock after its Q3 2025 earnings beat, Bold New Chapter strategy, and new Wall Street calls.

Published: December 7, 2025

Macy’s stock today: price, momentum and volatility

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) closed on December 5, 2025 at $22.85, up 2.37% on the day and just shy of its recent 52‑week high of $23.27, hit on December 3. ^[1]

Over the past three months, the stock has logged a 33.7% gain, and over the past five years its total shareholder return is about 143%, according to a fresh valuation piece from Simply Wall St published today. ^[2]

Key trading stats around the latest close:

• 12‑month range: $9.76 – $23.27
• Market cap: roughly $6.1 billion
• Trailing P/E ratio: about 13.5x
• Beta: around 1.4, meaning Macy’s tends to move more than the broader market
• Trailing dividend yield: roughly 3.2%, based on a quarterly dividend of $0.1824 per share declared for payment on January 2, 2026. ^[3]

On a simple back‑of‑the‑envelope basis, the current price of about $22.85 implies a forward P/E of roughly 10–11x management’s updated fiscal 2025 earnings guidance (more on that below), which helps explain why the stock is drawing attention from both value investors and momentum traders at the same time. ^[4]

Q3 2025: strongest comp sales in 13 quarters

Macy’s Q3 2025 results, released on December 3, are the foundation of the current rally.

According to the company’s official earnings release, for the quarter ended November 1, 2025 the retailer delivered: ^[5]

• Net sales of $4.7 billion, down just 0.6% year‑on‑year, despite ongoing store closures
• Total revenue of about $4.9 billion including credit card and other revenue
• Comparable sales up 2.5% on an “owned” basis and 3.2% on an owned‑plus‑licensed‑plus‑marketplace (O+L+M) basis – the strongest comp sales growth in 13 quarters
• GAAP EPS of $0.04 and adjusted EPS of $0.09, comfortably beating guidance and Wall Street expectations that had called for a loss

The strength was not just a rounding error – it was broad‑based across Macy’s brands:

• “Reimagine 125” upgraded Macy’s locations grew comps about 2.3% (owned) and 2.7% (owned+licensed).
• Bloomingdale’s posted around 9% comparable sales growth, its best performance in more than three years.
• Bluemercury, the beauty chain, also grew comps modestly, extending its streak of positive quarters. ^[6]

Net income was $11 million, with adjusted net income of $26 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 5.8% of revenue from 5.6% a year earlier, despite tariff‑related cost pressure. ^[7]

Markets like profits, but they love guidance changes. On that front, Macy’s raised its full‑year 2025 outlook:

• Net sales: now $21.475–$21.625 billion, up from $21.15–$21.45 billion
• Comparable O+L+M sales: now expected to be flat to up ~0.5% vs. prior guidance of a ~0.5–1.5% decline
• Adjusted EBITDA margin: guided to 7.8–8.0% (previously 7.4–7.9%)
• Adjusted EPS: lifted to $2.00–$2.20, from $1.70–$2.05. ^[8]

So the short version: revenue is still shrinking slightly because Macy’s is closing stores – but the stores and brands it wants to keep are finally growing again, and profitability is tracking better than previously expected.

“Bold New Chapter”: store closures, smaller fleet, bigger bets

All of this sits inside Macy’s multi‑year “Bold New Chapter” turnaround strategy, announced in early 2024. The core idea: fewer, better stores plus real estate monetisation and omnichannel investment.

A January 10, 2025 update spelled out one of the more painful pieces: Macy’s plans to close 66 “non‑go‑forward” stores in 2025, as part of a broader plan to shutter about 150 underperforming Macy’s locations over three years, while investing in roughly 350 “go‑forward” stores through fiscal 2026. ^[9]

CEO Tony Spring has been blunt about the trade‑off: closing stores is unpopular locally, but frees capital and management attention to spend on stores where customers are spending and where returns are higher. Under Spring, who took over as CEO in 2024, Macy’s has: ^[10]

• Closed unprofitable locations
• Invested in modernization (better fitting rooms, upgraded shoe floors, refreshed layouts)
• Improved service levels and leaned harder into fashion, beauty and luxury through Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury

Q3 results suggest the strategy is starting to work: the 125 upgraded “Reimagine” stores are outperforming the chain, and the go‑forward store fleet posted stronger comp growth than the total estate. ^[11]

Real estate and capital returns

Macy’s also has something many retailers envy: a large real estate portfolio, including flagship locations in prime U.S. cities. Simply Wall St’s December 7 valuation note highlights that Macy’s expects to raise about $600–$750 million from real estate sales over the next three years, using proceeds to pay down debt and fund new investments. ^[12]

On top of that, Macy’s continued to return cash to shareholders in Q3:

• $49 million in dividends during the quarter and $149 million year‑to‑date
• $50 million of share repurchases in Q3, bringing 2025 year‑to‑date buybacks to $201 million across 15.4 million shares, with about $1.2 billion still available under its authorization. ^[13]

The balance sheet remains reasonably conservative for a cyclical retailer: Macy’s ended Q3 with $447 million in cash, roughly $2.0 billion in available revolver capacity, and $2.4 billion of total debt with no major maturities until 2030. ^[14]

That combination – property, buybacks, and a 3%+ dividend – is a big part of the bull case right now.

Fresh December 7 developments: institutional buying and valuation debate

Cooper Creek’s 2.7% stake

The biggest new headline today (December 7) is a filing recap from MarketBeat: hedge fund Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC has increased its position in Macy’s by 13.4%, buying 876,606 additional shares in the latest reported quarter. ^[15]

Cooper Creek now owns about 7.4 million shares, or 2.72% of Macy’s outstanding stock, worth roughly $86 million at recent prices. Macy’s is the fund’s 12th‑largest holding, and overall about 87% of Macy’s shares are held by institutions and hedge funds, according to the same report. ^[16]

Institutional ownership does not guarantee anything, but when professional investors are adding to a name that has already rallied, it usually signals that at least some large players see further upside or a decent risk‑reward from here.

Simply Wall St: still (slightly) undervalued?

Also dated December 7, Simply Wall St published a valuation check arguing that Macy’s shares, at $22.85, look about 6.5% undervalued relative to their narrative “fair value” estimate of $24.43. ^[17]

Key points from that analysis:

• 90‑day share price return: 33.7%
• Five‑year total shareholder return: 143.5%
• Fair value narrative emphasizes cash‑flow strength and real estate value, not just near‑term sales trends
• The bullish thesis assumes Macy’s can successfully execute on real estate sales and store optimization; it starts to unravel if those asset sales disappoint or store closures signal deeper demand issues than expected. ^[18]

In short, one fundamental model says there is modest upside left even after the recent run – but only if the Bold New Chapter plan continues to deliver and the property portfolio can be monetized efficiently.

What Wall Street is saying: ratings, price targets and forecasts

If you zoom out from individual notes, the Street’s view of Macy’s is… complicated.

Consensus: “Hold” – but with higher targets

Data compiled by StockAnalysis shows that 10 analysts currently cover Macy’s, with an average rating of “Hold” and an average 12‑month price target of $19.80 – about 13% below the current share price. The target range is wide, from $8 on the low end to $26 on the high end. ^[19]

A separate cut of the data from MarketBeat similarly pegs the stock at a consensus Hold, with about two “Strong Buy”, one “Buy”, eleven “Hold” and two “Sell” ratings, and an average price target around $20–21. ^[20]

In other words: most analysts think the stock has run ahead of their models, but a vocal minority sees more upside.

Big week of target hikes

What’s really changed in early December is not the label “Hold”, but the direction of estimate and target revisions:

• Evercore ISI raised its target from $14 to $21 while maintaining an “In‑Line” rating.
• Telsey Advisory Group bumped its target from $22 to $25 and kept a “Market Perform” view.
• Citigroup lifted its target from $19 to $24, rating the shares “Neutral”.
• Jefferies kept a “Buy” rating but raised its target aggressively from $18.50 to $26.
• UBS, still bearish, moved its target from $7 to $8 while reiterating a “Sell” stance. ^[21]

So while the average target looks conservative relative to the current price, the distribution is shifting upward, which normally supports the share price in the short term.

Zacks: from neutral to “Strong Buy”

On December 5, Zacks upgraded Macy’s to a Rank #1 (Strong Buy), putting it in the top ~5% of its coverage universe. The upgrade is driven almost entirely by positive earnings estimate revisions: the Zacks consensus EPS estimate for the fiscal year ending January 2026 has risen about 12.5% over the past three months, to around $2.08 per share. ^[22]

Zacks’ view is explicitly near‑term: they argue that rising earnings estimates tend to attract institutional buying and can push a stock higher over the coming months – which meshes neatly with what we’re seeing from Cooper Creek and others.

Diverging valuation models

Just to keep things spicy, not all models say “undervalued”:

• GuruFocus, summarizing 10 analysts’ targets, quotes an average 1‑year target of $21.65, implying about 6% downside from roughly $23.12, and calls the average brokerage recommendation a “Hold” (score ~2.9 on a 1–5 scale). ^[23]
• Their proprietary GF Value model, which leans heavily on historical multiples and growth rates, pegs fair value at about $14.49, implying a much sharper downside if current margins prove unsustainable. ^[24]

So depending on whose spreadsheet you trust, Macy’s is either modestly cheap, roughly fairly valued, or way ahead of itself. This is exactly the kind of disagreement that creates volatility – and opportunity – in turnaround stocks.

Macro backdrop: “choiceful” consumers and tariff drag

Macy’s surge isn’t happening in a vacuum. The macro backdrop is… weird.

A December 5 Reuters report on U.S. consumer spending showed only 0.3% growth in September, with inflation running at about 2.8% year‑over‑year on the Fed’s preferred PCE measure and tariffs pushing up the price of many goods, including clothing and footwear. Economists described a “K‑shaped” economy where higher‑income households keep spending while middle‑ and lower‑income shoppers struggle with affordability and become more value‑driven. ^[25]

Macy’s management is seeing that split in real time:

• CEO Tony Spring called consumers “choiceful” and more discerning on the Q3 call and in interviews, and guided holiday‑quarter EPS to $1.35–$1.55, slightly below Wall Street’s prior consensus. ^[26]
• He noted that Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury lean heavily toward higher‑income shoppers – “the upper part of the K” – while the Macy’s banner must work harder with promotions and value messaging to attract more stretched customers. ^[27]

That aligns neatly with the macro data: consumer spending is still growing, but slower, and tariffs plus higher living costs are making mid‑market shoppers very price‑sensitive.

For Macy’s stock, this means near‑term performance is tightly linked to promotional discipline. If the company has to discount more aggressively than planned to move merchandise in December, that could pressure margins and disappoint investors who are now expecting clean execution.

Activism, takeover talk and the “hidden asset” narrative

One reason Macy’s often trades like a story stock rather than a plain‑vanilla retailer is its long history of activist interest and takeover speculation.

• In late 2023 and early 2024, investment firms Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital made a series of unsolicited offers to buy Macy’s, starting around $21 per share and later raising the proposal to $24 per share, implying equity value in the $6–7 billion range. ^[28]
• Macy’s board rejected the proposals as “not actionable” and insufficient, and in July 2024 the company ended formal talks, though the episode highlighted how prime real estate and brands can justify valuations that screen quite differently from retail peers. ^[29]

More recently, Barington Capital and Thor Equities have urged changes to capital allocation and portfolio strategy, arguing that Macy’s has under‑earned its potential over the past decade and should be more aggressive in unlocking asset value. The January 2025 store‑closure announcement specifically referenced their pressure, alongside management’s assertion that Bold New Chapter would deliver “sustainable, profitable growth.” ^[30]

With the stock now trading above the original takeover bids and within shouting distance of the later $24 offer, the market is effectively saying:

“We think there’s some of that hidden asset value here – but we’re not totally sure how much of it will reach shareholders.”

That uncertainty is part of what keeps both activists and deep‑value investors interested.

Earnings and revenue outlook: slow top line, stabilizing bottom line

Looking at the Street’s aggregated models, the picture is one of stabilizing but not explosive growth:

• Consensus now calls for fiscal 2025 revenue of about $21.9 billion, down ~4.9% from $23.0 billion in fiscal 2024, followed by a smaller decline to ~$21.5 billion in 2026 as store closures continue. ^[31]
• EPS is expected to hover around $1.97 this year and $2.06 next year, broadly consistent with Macy’s own guidance range of $2.00–$2.20 for 2025. ^[32]

In other words, analysts are modeling flat to slightly higher earnings on a shrinking (but higher‑quality) revenue base. The margin story matters more than the sales line.

That makes the thesis fairly binary:

• If Bold New Chapter keeps lifting comps at go‑forward stores, and tariffs don’t crush margins, Macy’s can grow EPS even with fewer stores.
• If promotions spiral, real estate sales disappoint, or store modernization fails to keep up with online and off‑price competitors, the equity story quickly looks too optimistic at 10–11x earnings.

Key risks and what to watch next

A few big variables to keep in mind as you interpret Macy’s stock from here:

1. Holiday 2025 performance
   December is still the Super Bowl of retail. Macy’s has already signaled a cautious view for Q4 profits, but a notably weak or strong holiday season could easily swing sentiment and price targets. ^[33]
2. Tariffs and inflation
   The tariff regime and elevated goods inflation are hitting apparel, footwear and home goods – exactly what Macy’s sells. Reuters’ consumer‑spending data shows households below the top income tiers are increasingly strained, which may push Macy’s toward heavier discounting if demand softens. ^[34]
3. Real estate monetisation
   The plan to raise $600–$750 million via real estate over three years is central to the “undervalued assets” thesis. If transactions slip, valuations come in lower, or proceeds are not used in a shareholder‑friendly way, the bull case loses some shine. ^[35]
4. Competition from online and off‑price retailers
   Department stores continue to battle Amazon, fast fashion, and off‑price chains for traffic. Macy’s is investing in omni‑channel capabilities and marketplace initiatives, but the sector remains structurally challenged.
5. Activism and strategic alternatives
   With activist history, high institutional ownership and a tangible asset base, Macy’s will likely stay on the radar of value‑oriented funds. Future letters, board slates or renewed deal chatter could move the stock in ways that don’t neatly track fundamentals. ^[36]

Bottom line: how to frame Macy’s stock on December 7, 2025

As of today, Macy’s stock sits at the intersection of turnaround story, real‑estate play, and macro tug‑of‑war:

• The business trends – comps, margins, guidance – have clearly improved versus a year ago. ^[37]
• The stock has already rerated, up ~34% in three months and near a 52‑week high. ^[38]
• Wall Street broadly says “Hold”, but a cluster of upward revisions and a Zacks Strong Buy reflect growing optimism about earnings. ^[39]
• Valuation models disagree wildly, from “slightly undervalued” in Simply Wall St’s narrative to “overshooting fair value” in GuruFocus’ GF Value estimate. ^[40]
• Institutional investors are adding, with Cooper Creek’s 2.7% stake the latest example of hedge fund conviction. ^[41]

For investors and traders watching Macy’s, the next catalysts are straightforward:

• Holiday sales and Q4 margins
• Progress on store closures and performance of go‑forward locations
• Real estate deals and capital‑return decisions
• Any new activist moves or strategic reviews

References

1. www.investing.com, 2. simplywall.st, 3. www.marketbeat.com, 4. www.macysinc.com, 5. www.macysinc.com, 6. www.macysinc.com, 7. www.macysinc.com, 8. www.macysinc.com, 9. www.nasdaq.com, 10. www.wral.com, 11. www.macysinc.com, 12. simplywall.st, 13. www.macysinc.com, 14. www.macysinc.com, 15. www.marketbeat.com, 16. www.marketbeat.com, 17. simplywall.st, 18. simplywall.st, 19. stockanalysis.com, 20. www.marketbeat.com, 21. www.gurufocus.com, 22. www.nasdaq.com, 23. www.gurufocus.com, 24. www.gurufocus.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.investing.com, 27. www.wral.com, 28. shoppingcenterbusiness.com, 29. www.retaildive.com, 30. www.nasdaq.com, 31. stockanalysis.com, 32. www.macysinc.com, 33. www.investing.com, 34. www.reuters.com, 35. simplywall.st, 36. www.retailtouchpoints.com, 37. www.macysinc.com, 38. simplywall.st, 39. stockanalysis.com, 40. simplywall.st, 41. www.marketbeat.com