PVH Corp Closes Stores To Contain The Coronavirus Outbreak

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, PVH Corp. (NYSE:PVH) is the latest to join the slew of retailers that announced store closures across North America and Europe as a measure to contain the virus spread. It declared that its company-operated retail stores in North America and Europe will remain closed from Mar 17 to Mar 29.

Further, PVH Corp stated that all employees at the locations will receive full pay and benefits for their scheduled shifts during the temporary lockdown. However, its offices will remain open, with all associates in North America and Europe working remotely from home, except for a few employees, with critical functions.

Moreover, the company notified that customers can continue to shop at its online sites — Tommy.com, CalvinKlein.com, VanHeusen.com, Izod.com, styleBureau.com and SpeedoUSA.com.

Also, it notes that company-operated stores across the Asia Pacific have resumed operation, although stores in some regions are open for limited hours. While the retail store traffic is picking up in the regions, it remains significantly below the prior-year period figure. Further, the company’s offices in Greater China have resumed functionality, while offices in South Korea and Japan are operating for reduced hours.

It expects to provide a detailed business update related to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on its fourth-quarter fiscal 2019 earnings call scheduled on Apr 2.

Shares of the Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company tumbled 19.1% on Mar 16, after its update. Notably, shares of PVH have slumped 61.2% year to date, while the industry has declined 37.7%.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In mid-February, the company announced that it temporarily closed the majority of the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein stores (company-operated and franchise) in China in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Consequently, it predicted that the affected China operations will have a pronounced impact on overall results, which led to the stock decline.

The overall market sentiment has been volatile over the past two months due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. The virus originated in Wuhan, China, on Dec 31 and has since spread into the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, South Korea, Iran and Germany, among other countries. It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization last week.

With the epicenter of the outbreak now shifting to Europe and the emergence of the virus in the United States, many retailers went on a temporary lockdown for about 10-12 days after President Donald Trump announced a health emergency in the country. Later on, the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rates to nearly zero on Mar 15 and launched a massive $700-billion quantitative easing program to shield the economy from the effects of the virus outbreak.

Here are some companies that closed stores in the United States and other countries to combat the spread of coronavirus. Yoga apparel maker, lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) , announced the closure of all stores in North America and Europe from Mar 16 through Mar 27, while keeping its online site active.

Moreover, Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) closed all stores in North America from Mar 16 through Mar 28, 2020, safeguarding the health of its employees and customers.

Abercrombie (NYSE:ANF) is likely to temporarily close all stores across its brands from Mar 15 in North America and Mar 16 in EMEA until Mar 28, 2020. However, its stores in the APAC and online stores in all regions will remain open. Despite expecting significant adverse impacts, Abercrombie withdrew the first-quarter and fiscal 2020 outlook issued on Mar 4, 2020.

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