Target decided to start selling a women’s swimsuit advertised as being “tuck-friendly” and a collection of clothes designed by a Satanist, both of which infuriated conservatives. As a result, a boycott has begun and the retail giant’s stock has plummeted to three-year lows.
As a result of all the problems now facing the company, most of which were of its own making and insertion of its name into virulent culture war battles, investment banking behemoth JP Morgan has downgraded its stock, moving its rating of the stock from “overweight” to “neutral.”
JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers, describing why the stock had been downgraded, first blamed general economic conditions and said, “We continue to believe that the consumer is broadly weakening while the share of wallet shift away from goods (51% of [Target’s] sales) is ongoing.”
He then, somewhat surprisingly for being at JP Morgan, a generally left-leaning company, cited the recent controversies as a reason for the downgrade, saying, “While still positive on a [three-year] basis, [Target] has been giving back share on a [one-year] view and we believe this share loss could accelerate into back to school and linger into holiday given consumer pressures and recent company controversies.” He added, “This could turn [Target’s] traffic negative after an impressive run of 12 consecutive positive quarters.”
The move comes as Target’s stock continues to decline, putting it on its longest losing streak in 23 years.
Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk took to Twitter to highlight the downgrade and rally conservatives around the small victory, saying “BREAKING: JP Morgan just downgraded Target’s stock, after its longest losing streak in 23 years citing “too many concerns rising’. Happy Pride Month Target!!”
Commenting, Elon Musk said, “Won’t be long before there are class-action lawsuits by shareholders against the company and board of directors for destruction of shareholder value.”
Won’t be long before there are class-action lawsuits by shareholders against the company and board of directors for destruction of shareholder value
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2023
Kirk agreed with Musk in another comment, saying, “97% of Americans would prefer depoliticized corporations to the hyperpolitical ones of today. Shareholders should organize to make this happen.”
Numerous commenters on the posts agreed with Musk and Kirk, saying that they were tired of companies using their financial and culture power to push wokeness. One, for example, said, “I for one am tired of corporations, news outlets, and even tv shows preaching this woke ideology. Preaching should be confined to religious entities from a pulpit. The constant pushing of these Marxist ideas makes me look the other way.”
Another noted that boycotts of certain woke companies seem to be having more of a positive cultural effect than any voting does, saying, “Our boycotts are proven more effective than our votes at this point.”
Still another commenter took the opportunity to note that, even outside of the woke issue, Target seems to be having internal issues and is not a great company, saying, “Target is broken from the inside. Terrible place to ever send my trucks to deliver. 8 plus hours to offload, reject freight they damage and stick the companies with getting rid of it. I donated 2 pallets of the large Tide cases $4800 worth(6 month boxes) to police, fire departments and VFWs because they hit the bottom case with their forklifts. 6 days waiting for disposition and 350 miles so we could get it off the truck. You name it they leave it and cost money every time. We charge a surcharge for any delivery to their warehouses to make up the time lost. We have a whole list of companies that are broke from the inside out that are waisting so much money on a daily basis and in turn hurt carriers and distributors. Only good part is it gives me a nice advantage in the market but still cannot beat buying gold and holding.”
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