GPS - The Gap, Inc.
Chart Events
Inside Bar (Bullish)
Performance Outlook
- Short Term2W - 6W
- Mid Term6W - 9M
- Long Term9M+
| Previous Close | 6.59 |
| Open | 6.22 |
| Bid | 0.00 x 1300 |
| Ask | 0.00 x 3200 |
| Day's Range | 6.88 - 7.86 |
| 52 Week Range | 5.26 - 26.86 |
| Volume | 19,531,189 |
| Avg. Volume | 8,245,157 |
| Market Cap | 2.588B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 1.43 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 7.49 |
| EPS (TTM) | 0.93 |
| Earnings Date | May 27, 2020 - May 31, 2020 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 0.97 (14.72%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | Apr 06, 2020 |
| 1y Target Est | 10.92 |
Fair Value
Related Research
- Business Wire
Gap Inc. to Participate on Baird Sponsored Conference Call
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) today announced that Chief Financial Officer Katrina O’Connell will participate in an investor conference call sponsored by Baird on Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss actions the company is taking in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
- Zacks
Large Caps Switch to Medical Gear as Coronavirus Spreads
Companies like Apple, Inc. (AAPL), General Motors (GM), Ford Motor Company (F) and The Gap, Inc. (GPS) have taken to manufacturing face masks and ventilators keeping in mind the growing demand.
- Barrons.com
Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Others Furloughed Hundreds of Thousands of Workers This Week. More Retailers May Follow.
Some companies are softening the blow by extending health benefits. Others are sharing the pain with management pay cuts.
- InvestorPlace
Gilead Sciences’ Coronavirus Treatment Has Big-Time Potential
The coronavirus continues to sweep across the world. It's hitting Europe and the U.S. hard after the outbreak began in China. Despite the hellish reality of Covid-19, we're seeing individual companies step up, like Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD). As a result, GILD stock is up 16.3% year-to-date and 9% over the past month.Some investors may look at that and say, "so what?"But compare that to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY), which is down 22% and 15.3% in the same time frame and you can understand why Gilead has stood out. It's also why it has the potential to shine even brighter in the coming weeks and months.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Gilead vs. Covid-19The virus is bringing out the best in many American companies. Ford (NYSE:F), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are producing ventilators. Gap (NYSE:GPS), Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) and others are producing scrubs, gowns and other supplies. Breweries are making hand sanitizer. We're stepping up. And so is biotech. * 10 Stocks to Buy Whose Companies We Can't Live Without Gilead is working on a Covid-19 treatment with a drug called remdesivir. On March 23, the FDA granted remdesivir "orphan status." That designation would, among other things, give it exclusivity rights. However, just a few days later Gilead filed with the FDA to remove that status. Click to Enlarge Source: Chart courtesy of Statista, Source from WHO The company said it could maintain an "expedited timeline" without the status, and that the designation is meant to apply for infections impacting less than 200,000 Americans. With more than 215,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. and growing rapidly, it's clear the number will be far higher.Gilead CEO Daniel O'Day recently said that remdesivir is "a medicine we had been studying for many years as part of our extensive research in antivirals … Multiple studies are ongoing, and we are on track to have initial data in the coming weeks."On April 1, the company initiated two Phase 3 trials for remdesivir for use in patients with moderate to severe Covid-19.This is all moving along very quickly. If Gilead sees promising results, not only is that huge for Gilead but it's huge for the world. We need some sort of positive catalyst here. Not just for the stock market, but for humanity. People are growing tired of being on lockdown orders and anxiety is creeping higher for many out of work.If Gilead's remdesivir works, it could be a game changer. Sizing Up GILD Stock Click to Enlarge Source: Chart courtesy of StockCharts.comA glance at the chart above highlights what life has been like for long-term investors in Gilead. Simply put, the stock has been a painful one to own. Shares embarked on a brutal decline from a high north of $100 in 2015 to a low near $57.50 in 2017. It has since been trying to carve out a bottom.Shares moved slowly but constructively higher in 2019, leading to a breakout in 2020. Of course, that's on the back of the company's remdesivir hopes, putting Gilead in a somewhat binary situation.Binary situations are generally unattractive from an investment perspective, particularly when they center around a treatment being accepted or rejected. As it stands though, investors may be safe buying a pullback into the $65 to $70 area. As long as GILD stays above $65, its technicals are in good shape.On the upside, look for a rally back up to resistance between $77.50 to $80. A breakout over $80 puts the recent highs near $86 on the table.While Gilead shares has been hammered over the years, its fundamentals have deteriorated a bit over that time as well. But -- and this is a big but -- Gilead Sciences is not your typical fly-by-night binary biotech play. It's a low valuation, cash-rich healthcare titan.The company boasts $24.3 billion in cash -- $19.4 billion including its recent acquisition of Forty Seven (NASDAQ:FTSV). Trailing free cash flow is north of $8.3 billion, with revenue and net income of $22.4 billion and $5.4 billion, respectively. Gilead may not be in its prime, but it's a very profitable machine.Investors could do worse than pay 11.3 times this year's earnings for a company like Gilead, with the upside kicker being remdesivir.Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors -- by getting them into the world's biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being "first" gave Matt's readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA) and +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), just to name a few. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now. Matt does not directly own the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 25 Stocks You Should Sell Immediately * 1 Under-the-Radar 5G Stock to Buy Now * This Stock Picker's Latest Video Just Went Viral * The 1 Stock All Retirees Must Own The post Gilead Sciencesa Coronavirus Treatment Has Big-Time Potential appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Zacks
lululemon Extends Store Closure on Rising Coronavirus Impact
COVID-19 derails economic activities worldwide. lululemon (LULU) extends store closures in certain regions until further notice and creates a fund to help employees.
- Bloomberg
Retailers Wish You'd Be Back Shopping By Easter
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Donald Trump wasn’t alone in hoping everyone’s lives could get back to normal by Easter weekend.Retailers’ decisions to furlough hundreds of thousands of U.S. retail workers this week underscore that store closures are set to go on for much longer than initially anticipated. Closings in many major markets around the world will remain in place through next weekend and beyond, wreaking havoc with the prime spring shopping season.Hennes & Mauritz AB said on Friday that net sales fell by 46% in March from the year earlier. It expects a loss in its second quarter. The extended closures will now affect crucial pre-Easter shopping period, worth about $25 billion to U.S. retailers, according to GlobalData. While people may still indulge in filling their children’s baskets with chocolate eggs to create some holiday cheer in this difficult time, crackdowns on even the smallest of gatherings mean they won’t be planning big fancy meals, nor refreshing their bunny-and-chick-themed decorations. What’s more, consumers can’t take advantage of the long holiday weekend in much of Europe to start shopping for the latest trends for summer. That’s a blow because it typically kicks off the period when consumers refresh their wardrobes, home decorations and gardens for the warmer months. If temperatures soar, that can normally set non-food retailers fair for the coming quarter. From there, people’s diaries would typically be chock full with weddings, graduations and parties, plenty of reasons to update one’s wardrobe. But the novel coronavirus has radically changed all of that, eliminating pretty much any reason to dress for success. It’s estimated that half of couples planning weddings in the U.S. this year are looking to postpone them, according to data from the Wedding Report. The graduation season has been thrown into question. More than 80 U.S. colleges and universities have either canceled, postponed or been turned their 2020 commencement ceremonies into virtual gatherings. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nordstrom (@nordstrom) on Apr 2, 2020 at 5:40pm PDTThat means everything from floral dresses to pastel hued shoes may have to be offloaded. Discounting to clear unwanted stock means the crisis is likely to last well into the second quarter, and possibly beyond.There’s another reason why the impact on may be bigger than initially feared: Some online demand has evaporated. Retailers have to ensure workers processing internet orders observe strict social distancing rules. So far British online fashion group Asos Plc, which generated 13% of its sales from the U.S., has kept its warehouses in Atlanta, Berlin and the U.K. open, albeit with longer delivery times. But rival fashion chain Next Plc has stopped taking online orders while it reconfigures its distribution centers. This would be in line with its worst case scenario of the business being closed for four weeks, cutting full-year sales by 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion).No wonder store chains have shifted to cash preservation mode. H&M said it was taking a number of initiatives, from cutting working hours to seeking rent reductions, to try to cope. In the U.S., hundreds of thousands of staff are being temporarily laid off, with chains such as Macy’s Inc., J.C. Penney Co., Kohl’s Corp. and Gap Inc. halting pay for much of their workforce while preserving some benefits. The longer the hiatus in consumer spending, the more likely that some retailers and restaurants just won’t open their doors again. Others may decide to radically cut down on their brick-and-mortar locations. U.S. department stores, already grappling with the shift to online and mostly lackluster product selections, look particularly challenged.But even companies that do emerge relatively unscathed could find recovery just as demanding. Consumers who have kept their jobs will likely be eager to splash out on holiday and work attire when they’re finally able to move about freely and go back to the office, purchases they can fund with money saved during lockdown on everything from gym memberships and dining out.The question is whether any pent up demand will be enough to alleviate lost sales from those who have been temporarily laid off, or worse, made redundant. Individuals in fear of losing their jobs, or being forced to take pay cuts, are likely to save more. So consumer-facing companies need to brace themselves for a long haul. It’s going to be some time before stores reopen, and even longer before they get back to any semblance of normality.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
ReutersWRAPUP 4-U.S. weekly jobless claims blow past 6 million as coronavirus lockdowns spread
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits shot to a record high of more than 6 million last week as more jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which economists say has pushed the economy into recession. Thursday's weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department, the most timely data on the economy's health, reinforced economists' views that the longest employment boom in U.S. history probably ended in March. Economists said worsening job losses underscored the need for additional fiscal and monetary stimulus.
- Zacks
Are Retailers Crunching the Right Sums to Fight Coronavirus?
Companies are drawing on revolving credit facilities to enhance cash positions amid coronavirus induced store closures.
ReutersWRAPUP 2-U.S. weekly jobless claims hit record once again
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits last week shot to a record high for a second week in a row - topping 6 million - as more jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which economists say has pushed the economy into recession. Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 6.65 million in the latest week from an unrevised 3.3 million the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday. The figures far exceeded the median estimate of 3.50 million in a Reuters survey of economists.
- Reuters
RPT-WRAPUP 1-U.S. weekly jobless claims seen at record high - again
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits likely shot to a record high for a second week in a row as more jurisdictions enforced stay-at-home measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which economists say has pushed the economy into recession. Thursday's weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department, the most timely data on the economy's health, is expected to show that claims blew past the previous week's record 3.3 million. It will likely reinforce economists' views that the longest employment boom in U.S. history probably ended in March.
- Reuters
Macy's to drop from S&P 500 to small-cap index
Macy's Inc will be removed from the benchmark S&P 500 stock index, the S&P Dow Jones Indices said on Tuesday, as coronavirus-induced store closures compound the retail sector's struggles with a shift to online shopping. The company's shares have plunged more than 70% so far this year, leaving Macy's with a market value of $1.52 billion as of Tuesday's close, according to Refinitiv IBES data. "Macy's has a market capitalization more representative of the small-cap market space," S&P said, adding that the company would become part of the S&P small-cap 600 index, effective April 6.
- MarketWatch
Coronavirus update: 826,222 cases, 40,708 deaths, and White House expected to release models showing trajectory of illness
The U.S. continued to lead the world in number of cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, as state governors continued to complain about inadequate testing and predict that the worst is yet to come.
- Barrons.com
J.C. Penney Joins Macy’s, Gap, and Other Retailers to Furlough Thousands of Workers Without Pay
Retail workers make up a massive chunk of the U.S. labor force—about 15.7 million, according to preliminary figures in February from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Reuters
J.C. Penney furloughs staff, extends store closures amid pandemic
J. C. Penney Co Inc said on Tuesday it would furlough a majority of its hourly staff and salaried associates next month, the latest U.S. retailer looking to weather the financial strain from store closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Furloughed employees will continue to receive full health benefits and many are eligible to receive state unemployment benefits, the company said, adding it would extend store closures until it was safe to reopen. Many of the Penney's workers in supply chain and logistics centers were previously furloughed on March 20, and those furloughs will continue, the company said.
- Reuters
Garment exporter Bangladesh faces $6 bln hit as world retailers cancel orders
Bangladesh, the second-largest apparel producer after China, is set to lose roughly $6 billion in export revenue this financial year amid cancellations from some of the world's largest brands and retailers, two major industry bodies said on Tuesday. The two groups, which represent the vast majority the readymade garment and knitwear manufacturers in the country, said cancellations were increasing daily amid coronavirus-driven lockdowns globally, and these risked jeopardizing millions of jobs in the poor South Asian nation. Low wages have helped Bangladesh build its garment industry, with some 4,000 factories employing 4 million workers.
- Investopedia
Furloughs Begin in Earnest
Retailers are furloughing hundreds of thousands due to COVID-19 lockdown measures. What does furlough mean & how is it different from layoffs?
- Bloomberg
Covid-19 Brings a Reckoning to the Business World
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The coronavirus pandemic has forced Macy’s Inc. — a retail giant venerable enough to be featured in an old Christmas movie and familiar enough to retain bragging rights to New York’s annual Thanksgiving parade — to throw most of its 130,000 workers into the unknown.Macy’s stores, which include Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, have been closed since March 18, and the company said on Monday that it will put a “majority” of its workforce on unpaid furloughs starting Wednesday. It also said all those employees, numerous enough to fill cities the size of New Haven, Connecticut, or Santa Clara, California, will have their health insurance premiums covered “at least through May.” After that, who knows?Meanwhile, a Holland America Line cruise ship, the Zaandam, was recently left floating off the coast of Panama for several days with nowhere to go while a coronavirus outbreak wound through its decks. The ship, one of those mammoth floating hotels that can accommodate as many as 1,432 passengers and 607 crew members, was adrift because no Latin American ports would allow it to dock after it departed from Buenos Aires on March 7. Four travelers on the Zaandam have died, at least two others have been infected with the coronavirus, and another 189 are reportedly displaying “flu-like symptoms.”The Panamanian government allowed the Zaandam and a sister ship that has picked up some of its passengers to pass through the Panama Canal on Sunday to sail toward Florida. A Holland America executive said that transiting the canal would allow the Zaandam’s passengers to make their way home. But who knows? The ship intends to dock in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, but local officials there said passengers haven’t been cleared to disembark. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Fox News that many of the Zaandam’s passengers were “foreigners” he didn’t want “dumped” in his state.So it goes as the coronavirus tightens its grip worldwide, forcing businesses such as Macy’s and Carnival Corp. (the parent of Holland America) to wrestle with harrowing, existential decisions that affect the financial well-being — and sometimes the survival — of employees and customers. We are likely in the very early stages of what may also be one of the most brutal transformations of corporate and workplace landscapes in generations, with longstanding businesses rocked to their foundations — or entirely brought down.The coronavirus is a villain in all of this, of course. But the pandemic is also a reckoning for businesses that have been slow to turn themselves around, haven’t adapted to earlier transformations in their industries or are simply run too recklessly to survive.Macy’s was struggling long before the coronavirus came along. Its sales have sagged for years, its stores tethered to older, less free-spending shoppers and often located in down-on-their-luck malls. The department store chain has tried to fight back by pursuing off-price retailing and embracing Amazon.com Inc.’s bailiwick — online shopping — more robustly. But Amazon is Amazon and Macy’s is Macy’s, and there’s the rub.The company is doing honorable things as it wrestles with the coronavirus and past mishaps. Its chief executive officer, Jeff Gennette, has given up all of his own compensation for an unspecified period and is finding other ways to cut back on spending. Just six days ago, Gennette said he was doing everything possible to avoid kneecapping his employees with furloughs or layoffs. By Monday, that apparently was no longer tenable. Plans to re-open stores on April 1 were also recently punted."We have no way of knowing how long our stores will remain closed, but we believe it will be at least several weeks before we have a clear line of sight," Gennette wrote in an email to employees.The federal government recently passed its landmark $2 trillion stimulus bill that could potentially offer a lifeline to companies like Macy’s (and other retailers facing the same predicament, including Kohl’s Corp. and Gap Inc.). The legislation sets aside $500 billion in loans and other aid for major corporations that are stumbling. But does it make sense for the government to prop up a company like Macy’s that’s been stumbling for years and might have unraveled even if the coronavirus hadn’t come along? Wouldn’t the money be better spent on direct support for the company’s workers?The decisions Carnival faces in connection with the Zaandam’s wanderings are even more stark. Cruise ships have the potential to act as gigantic, global Petri dishes: Before the coronavirus outbreak, the cruise industry’s largest trade association estimated that as many as 32 million people would take a cruise in 2020.Although the cruise ship is no stranger to viral outbreaks (two years ago, 73 passengers contracted a norovirus on a trip off the coast of Alaska), the Zaandam and other Holland America and Carnival ships have received high marks in recent sanitation inspections by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet reports have popped up regularly about other Carnival ships that don’t pass muster. (The parent company manages several brands, and the Princess lines have particularly weak health and sanitation records.) So how well prepared was Carnival for something as cataclysmic as the coronavirus?Moreover, why did the Zaandam set sail on March 7? Well before then, two other Carnival ships had already become poster children for the coronavirus. On Feb. 4, the Diamond Princess was quarantined at a Japanese port after a former passenger tested positive for the virus. A subsequent test administered to that ship’s 3,700 passengers and crew turned up 700 infections; several of those people later died. As early as March 3, it was reported that passengers aboard a Grand Princess cruise in February had tested positive. That Carnival ship, returning from Hawaii, was then detained off the California coast for several days before docking on March 9 to prevent a further spread.The peril for any ships heading out to sea was clearly known by early March. And if passengers weren’t aware of the danger, Carnival certainly was. Some Zaandam passengers have said they were assured that travelers were adequately screened for signs of the coronavirus prior to departure, but now doubt that claim.Although Carnival may be facing broader business hurdles similar to Macy’s, it can expect no financial lifeline from the federal government. Last week’s stimulus blocked major cruise companies from receiving aid because they are incorporated outside the U.S. (a move that has allowed them to avoid paying federal taxes and to skirt some regulations). What goes around comes around, especially during a pandemic.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Timothy L. O'Brien is a senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
Gap (GPS) Furloughs Employees to Combat Coronavirus Impacts
Gap (GPS) is furloughing employees in North America and freezing their salary on store closures due to the coronavirus outbreak.
- Benzinga
Gap Sales Drop Amid Pandemic, Retailer To Furlough 80,000 Workers In US And Canada
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) will furlough 80,000 employees at its stores, which remain closed as the coronavirus pandemic rampages across the United States.What Happened The retailer has had to close 90% of its stores around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic and recognizes that reopening them would be "further off" than hoped.In a message released on its corporate blog, Sonia Syngal, CEO of Gap Inc. and Bob Fisher, Chair of Gap Inc.'s Board of Directors, announced they had made the "painful decision" to furlough the majority of their store teams in the United States and Canada.Pay for the 80,000 affected employees will be paused, but benefits will continue until the stores reopen. The company has continued paying employees over the past two weeks.The executives also said that they would make "difficult but necessary" reductions at Gap Inc.'s offices and headquarters over the coming weeks to "more adequately reflect the needs of the current state" of their business. Syngal and the Executive Chair Bobby Martin, the entire board, as well as the leadership team, will also take pay cuts.Why It Matters The decision comes after Syngal took charge on March 23 as the company's new CEO. She had previously served as CEO of Old Navy, Gap's clothing and accessories division. She has been with the company since 2004.Even though Gap Inc. generates 20% of its sales online, which amount to more than $3 billion, the pandemic has hit the company hard as people shift to buying daily necessities instead of clothing during the current period, reported Fortune. The company reported quarterly sales of $4.674 billion in its Q4 results beating analyst consensus of $4.55 billion by 2.73%. Quarterly earnings per share stood at 58 cents, exceeding analyst estimates of 41 cents by 41.46%.Retail rival Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) has already sent most of its employees on furlough from this week. The company's stock was one of the worst-performing in the entire S&P500 last year and has not done well in 2020 either due to COVID-19.Price Action Gap Inc. shares traded 2.56% lower at $7.23 in the after-hours session on Monday. The shares had closed the regular session 4.75% lower at $7.42.Photo Credit: Michael Rivera via Wikimedia.See more from Benzinga * Striking Amazon Worker Fired For 'Putting The Teams At Risk,' Employee Says He Tried To Protect Workers' Lives * Ford Collaborates With GE, Plans To Make 50,000 Ventilators In Michigan In 3 Months * Pandemic Necessities: Guns, Jigsaw Puzzles, Yeast Among Items Flying Off The Shelves(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
- Reuters
Neiman Marcus to furlough nearly 14,000 workers amid virus crisis
Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus said on Monday it would furlough most of its about 14,000 workers, as the coronavirus crisis forced it to close all stores till the end of April. Employees not impacted by the furloughs will also take pay cuts in April, with Chief Executive Officer Geoffroy van Raemdonck forgoing his salary for the month, Raemdonck said in a statement. Top U.S. retailers, including Macy's Inc, Kohl's Corp and Gap Inc, also announced mass furloughs on Monday and said they will also keep stores closed in April as coronavirus cases in the country reached nearly 141,000.
- Bloomberg
Stay-at-Home Orders Expand; J&J in Vaccine Deal: Virus Update
(Bloomberg) -- Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., issued stay-at-home orders, with Virginia’s stretching to June 10. The San Francisco Bay Area will extend its mandate to May.New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy followed through on a threat to go after anyone who disobeys orders to stay home, and a Florida pastor was arrested for holding services. New York said new infections are slowing.Italy reported the slowest rate of new Covid-19 cases in almost two weeks and extended containment measures to at least Easter. Spain had fewer deaths after three days of record fatalities. Moscow’s 12.7 million residents were ordered to stay home.Key Developments:Cases top 775,000; 37,000 dead, 164,000 recovered: Johns HopkinsSick crew keeps ship running, risking spread of virusNew York City marshals all hospitals; Navy sails in to helpEx-FDA commissioner says distancing must go on until spread slowsU.S. allows emergency use of drug Trump backed against virusCentury-old vaccine investigated as a weapon against coronavirusSubscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here.Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus and here for maps and charts. For analysis of the impact from Bloomberg Economics, click here. For BNEF’s view of the impact on energy, click here.Gap Joins Macy’s in Furloughing Workers (5:20 p.m. NY)Large retailers are letting workers go as shoppers stay home. Gap Inc. said it would furlough most of its U.S. and Canada store employees as it anticipates closures to extend past a previously announced April 1 date. Ascena Retail Group, the owner of chains including Ann Taylor, announced a similar move. Macy’s Inc. said earlier Monday that it would furlough most of its roughly 130,000 workers this week.Consumer spending has “sharply declined” amid the pandemic, according to Visa Inc., which lowered its outlook for revenue growth in the fiscal second quarter.J&J Surges After Vaccine Deal With U.S. Government (4:25 p.m. NY)Johnson & Johnson jumped 8% after the company said it would begin a $1 billion-plus effort with the U.S. government to make a vaccine against the virus. It will work with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to further develop a vaccine the company said it’s been working on since January.J&J said it plans to begin building manufacturing capacity for a billion doses of the vaccine. Early doses may be ready for emergency use as soon as January.Read the full story hereCalifornia Calls for Non-Practicing Health-Care Workers (4:13 p.m. NY)California Governor Gavin Newsom made a call to non-practicing health-care workers, asking them to help with the anticipated surge in hospitalizations. “We need you,” he said of nurses, doctors, pharmacists and emergency medical technicians. Facebook Inc. has committed $25 million to provide stipends for additional costs health-care workers might face from childcare to hotel rooms, Newsom said in a press briefing.In the past four days, California’s number of hospitalizations related to the virus have roughly doubled to more than 1,400. The progression matches the state’s modeling, Newsom said, meaning California is on track to needing an additional 50,000 hospital beds and people to staff them.Charges Filed Against Florida Pastor Who Held Services (3:15 p.m. NY)Charges were filed against a Florida pastor who held in-person services at his megachurch on Sunday, Hillsborough Country Sheriff Chad Chronister said during a press conference on Monday. An arrest warrant was issued for Rodney Howard-Browne, who yesterday compared the pandemic to a flu and dismissed the advice of public health experts.Howard-Browne’s behavior was described as “reckless disregard for public safety” by Chronister. The local county is under a stay-at-home order as the state of Florida deals with skyrocketing coronavirus cases and deaths.N.Y. Cases Slowing Though Fatalities Still on Rise (2:17 p.m. NY)New York state reported 253 new coronavirus fatalities on Monday, a 26% increase, but Governor Andrew Cuomo also offered some positive news: The rise in confirmed cases is slowing, and the hospital-discharge rate is rising.While the doubling of infections has slowed from every two days to every six, the number of people who had to be moved into intensive care with intubation surged in one day, the governor said at a briefing in Manhattan.New York added almost 7,000 confirmed infections overnight, for a total of more than 66,000, Cuomo said. Of those, roughly 9,500 are hospitalized, an increase of more than 1,000, and about 2,350 were in intensive care, up 315.France Hospital Deaths Rise by Most to Date (1:56 p.m. NY)France reported 418 deaths in hospitals, the most in a day for the country. The number doesn’t include deaths in other locations, and will add those figures later in the week, according to the health ministry’s press office. The jump brings the total number of hospital deaths to 3,024.Israel PM Netanyahu Tests Negative for Virus (1:45 p.m.)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his family and close aides tested negative for Covid-19, his office said in a statement. One of his aides who he was in contact with has the virus, prompting them to go into isolation and be tested. He will remain in isolation until receiving further instructions from the health ministry.N.J. Files Charges for Violating Social-Distancing Orders (1:25 p.m. NY)In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy made good on a promise to name and shame people accused of violating social-distancing orders. His attorney general, Gurbir Grewal, sent out a news release detailing cases against a score of people, an unusual move for low-level offenses like disorderly conduct.Among the residents facing charges are four buddies who met to drag race in a school parking lot, men who held weddings, a woman who left her home to toss a Molotov cocktail at her boyfriend’s residence -- unsuccessfully -- and a billiards hall owner who reopened after he was ordered to close. At least a dozen people have been charged with threatening to transmit the virus.Italy Reports Fewest New Cases in Two Weeks (12:30 p.m. NY)Italy reported the smallest number of new coronavirus cases in almost two weeks as the epicenter of Europe’s contagion enters its fourth week of lockdown.New infections in the past 24 hours totaled 4,050, compared with 5,217 the previous day, civil protection authorities said Monday at their daily news conference in Rome. This is the lowest increase since March 17.Fatalities rose by 812 on Monday compared with 756 on Sunday, bringing the total to 11,591. Italy now has 101,739 total cases, the most after the U.S.Read more hereEurope Expected to Start Stabilizing Soon, WHO Says (12:18 p.m. NY)European countries that took measures two to three weeks ago will probably begin to show some signs of stabilization soon, according to Mike Ryan, head of health emergencies at the World Health Organization. The WHO hopes Italy and Spain are nearly at the peak, though reducing the number of new cases requires proactive measures, Ryan said at a press briefing Monday.To know if they are testing enough, countries should be getting roughly 10 negative results for every confirmed infection, Ryan said. “If 80 or 90% of the people you test are positive, you are probably missing a lot of cases.”All Covid-19 patients should be taken to health facilities rather than staying at home, and their close contacts also ideally should be isolated outside the home, he said. Singapore’s success in containing the virus came by sending community workers door-to-door, checking people for symptoms such as fever, and immediately taking anyone suspected to be infected to a testing center, he said.EU Finance Ministers to Meet April 7 on Response (12:01 p.m. NY)Euro-area finance ministers will meet on April 7 to deliver proposals to reinforce the EU’s policy response to the coronavirus, Eurogroup President Mario Centeno said on Twitter.Their meeting comes after EU leaders last week struggled to find common ground on how best to cushion to the impact of the pandemic. Instead, they gave their finance chiefs two weeks to produce new proposals amid disagreements over whether they should deploy the bloc’s bailout fund or push with more ambitious plans such as joint debt in the form of so-called coronabonds.French Fashion Brands Ramp Up Mask Production (12:01 p.m. NY)The French fashion sector’s push to supply protective masks is on track to produce 480,000 units per day with 45 companies participating, Deputy Economy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said. Those masks, often reusable, will be intended as an additional protection measure for people working outside the medical sector.France’s makers of surgical masks are also ramping up production, targeting 40 million masks in April, Pannier-Runacher said Monday in a briefing to press.Lacoste, Yves Saint-Laurent and Chanel are among the French fashion makers that have said they’ll participate in the effort.CureVac to Start Trials This Summer, Focus Says (10:30 a.m. NY)The German biotech CureVac AG will start a trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine in early summer, the magazine Focus reported, citing an interview with CureVac supervisory board member Friedrich von Bohlen. The vaccine could be ready be year-end.Earlier this month, CureVac denied speculation that the U.S. government tried to buy the business or its technology amid the intensifying race to produce a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.Abbott Surges on Five-Minute Test (9:45 a.m. NY)Abbott Laboratories shares surged after the company unveiled a coronavirus test that can tell if someone is infected in as little as five minutes, and is so small and portable it can be used in almost any health-care setting.The medical-device maker plans to supply 50,000 tests a day starting April 1, said John Frels, vice president of research and development at Abbott Diagnostics. The molecular test looks for fragments of the coronavirus genome, which can quickly be detected when present at high levels. A thorough search to definitively rule out an infection can take up to 13 minutes, he said.Read more herePoland Election Plan Faces Pushback (9:45 a.m. NY)Pressure is growing on Poland’s ruling party to delay the May 10 presidential election as the authorities introduce more curbs on civil liberties to contain the coronavirus.On Monday, a deputy science minister became the first government official to publicly call for the vote to be postponed. Meanwhile, municipalities are growing wary of having to help organize as many as 300,000 volunteers on local election committees that supervise voting and count ballots.Read more hereChina to Reveal Data on People Infected With No Symptoms (9:07 a.m. NY)China’s government indicated it will start releasing data on how many people are infected with coronavirus but don’t have symptoms, as domestic and international criticism of the country’s portrayal of the outbreak grows.Local governments should emphasize efforts to monitor, track and isolate these asymptomatic infections, a meeting on Covid-19 led by Premier Li Keqiang said Monday. These efforts will help close loopholes in epidemic control work, according to a statement released on the website of the State Council, the top administrative body in China.Trump Says Hazard Pay for Hospitals Is Being Looked At (8:49 a.m. NY)The president told Fox News that hazard pay for hospital workers dealing with the coronavirus is being looked at. He said hospitals were being asked to consider possible bonuses, among other measures.Tokyo Governor Urges Residents to Avoid Night Clubs (8:39 a.m. NY)Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike urged residents to avoid bars and night clubs, which are seen to be behind a recent increase in virus cases in the city. Tokyo reported 13 new cases of infection on Monday, bringing the total to 443.U.A.E. to Open Drive-Through Testing Centers (8:33 a.m. NY)The United Arab Emirates plans to open drive-through testing centers nationwide, the official news agency WAM reported on Monday.Netherlands Reports Its Slowest Case Growth: (8:20 a.m. NY)New cases in the Netherlands rose by 8% to 11,750, the smallest daily gain since the country reported its first case in late February. The RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment also said total deaths climbed to 864 after it recorded 93 more fatalities, an increase of 12%, below the recent average.The growth of new cases has slowed gradually over the past week. The RIVM expects to be able to say whether there’s a real flattening over the course of this week.The government is set to extend restrictions, such as keeping schools and restaurants closed, until after April 6, Dutch news agency ANP reported.Portugal Cases Slow (7:54 a.m. NY)The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Portugal rose 7.5% to 6,408 as of 11 a.m. on Monday from 5,962 on Sunday morning, the government’s Directorate-General of Health said. That’s slower than a daily increase of 15% reported on Sunday and a 21% gain on Saturday. The total number of deaths increased to 140 on Monday from 119 reported through Sunday morning.Germany Asks Companies to Suspend Dividends (7:53 a.m. NY)German listed companies will have to suspend dividend payments to qualify for government assistance designed to ease the impact of the coronavirus crisis, according to two people familiar with the policy.Decisions will be taken on a case by case basis, but the general rule will be that dividends should not be paid if companies want to tap into the aid program and borrow from state bank KfW, said the people, who asked not to be identified by name because the policy isn’t public. The KfW declined to comment.Germany is in line with France in insisting firms forgo dividend payments.The Latest on Covid-19 Tests and Vaccines (7:30 a.m. NY)Johnson & Johnson rose in pre-market trading after saying it had selected a lead Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The company expects to initiate human clinical studies latest by September and anticipates the first batches of a vaccine could be available for emergency use authorization in early 2021.Earlier, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he expects data about remdesivir “in month or so” that will indicate whether the drug works for coronavirus and whether it’s safe to use.Meanwhile, Abbott Laboratories shares rose 18% in U.S. pre-market trading after the company introduced a coronavirus test that can tell if someone is infected in as little as five minutes, and is so small and portable it can be used in almost any health-care setting.And Israel has developed a 3D-printed sticker to attach to a standard surgical mask to increase its protective capabilities. The sticker is composed of nanoscale fibers coated with disinfectants, the Defense Ministry said.(A previous version was corrected to fix the number of cases in the U.K.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- MarketWatch
Gap and Ascena Retail announce retail-employee furloughs
Gap Inc. , which owns the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy retail chains, and Ascena Retail Group Inc. , which operates Ann Taylor and other stores, announced plans Monday to furlough employees amid the spread of COVID-19. Gap announced that it would "furlough the majority of its store teams in the United States and Canada, pausing pay but continuing to offer applicable benefits until stores are able to reopen," along with laying off corporate workers and cutting executive salaries. Gap previously announced that stores would be closed till April 1, but extended that indefinitely Monday. "After taking the extraordinary measures of temporarily closing all of our company-owned stores in North America and Europe two weeks ago, we are now in a position where we must take deeper actions, new Gap Chief Executive Sonia Syngal said in Monday's announcement. "Each decision, however difficult, has been made to ensure that we build toward a future where Gap Inc. can come out of this stronger -- for our customers, our shareholders and, most importantly, our teams." Gap had 129,000 employees as of the end of January, according to regulatory filings. Ascena, which closed down its Dressbarn chain late last year amid struggles, said it would furlough all of its retail employees and half its corporate staff, and cut executive salaries in half. Distribution centers will remain open and operate at limited capacity, the company announced. Ascena had 53,000 employees as of Aug. 3, 2019.
- Business Wire
Gap Inc. Business Update as a Result of Coronavirus
Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) today announced that, while eager to reopen its company-operated North American and European stores, the company anticipates the closures to extend past the previously announced April 1 date, as a result of continued measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
