Williams-Sonoma, Wayfair, Macy's: Retailers on the move

A trio of retail stocks are trending on Friday.

Williams-Sonoma (WSM) shares fell after CEO Laura Alber sold 20,00 shares of the company's stock. Yahoo Finance spoke to Alber about her outlook for the company at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Wayfair (W) shares soared after the e-commerce retailer announced it was cutting 1,650 jobs, or about 13% of its workforce.

Macy's (M) is another retailer cutting jobs. It's shedding about 2,350 positions and closing five stores.

Yahoo Finance's Rachelle Akuffo and Akiko Fujita report the details.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Stephanie Mikulich

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: We've got our eyes on some retail stocks this morning. Williams-Sonoma, Wayfair, and Macy's. So starting with Williams-Sonoma dipping this morning, as an SEC filing shows that President and CEO Laura Alber sold a total of 20,000 shares. Now, she's just one of a few insiders taking profit lately. Williams-Sonoma stock was up over 70% in the last year.

And so I think it's one of these situations where investors are really passing through, looking for any hint as to how the consumer is doing, especially for some of these big ticket items that we've really seen under pressure over the past year, as consumers have become more discerning or more choice for we kept hearing on earnings calls.

So it's interesting to see that then continuing-- that nervousness continuing to percolate here, Akiko.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah. Although, as you pointed out, the socks thing is significant bump last week-- last year. So maybe some profit taking happening there as well. Let's talk about another company we're watching today. Wayfair joining a chorus of companies announcing layoffs in the last couple of weeks. The e-commerce giant is cutting more than 1,600 jobs. That's about 13% of its workforce.

Shares jumping on the news. That stock up more than 8% right now. Wayfair, if you'll recall, is one of those names that saw a big bump during the pandemic. And now, that you're seeing a bit of a correction. That's not necessarily a story we're seeing just in this sector, but in the tech sector as well. Wayfair CEO, specifically, saying that the company went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period. And that was when online shopping spiked. And now, they're having to pull back a bit.

If you'll recall just yesterday, we were talking about Google announcing additional layoffs as well. So that comes to show you, Rachelle, despite what we're hearing about the economy and the potential soft landing, there is still a lot of adjustment that's happening coming through from during the pandemic.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: It's true. We're still getting acclimated to it. And as we look at that memo that CEO Neeraj Shah sent out on Friday, you mentioned, they said they went overboard with hiring when it came to the pandemic. But even before the pandemic, in early 2020, they laid off about 500 workers, as they saw a pullback there. Last year, 1,700 employees. And then 900 in 2022.

So it's hard to tell if this is just an over hiring situation, being that we saw some of those job cuts already coming before the pandemic versus, perhaps, just a changing consumer. We've seen a lot of retailers still trying to get a grip on consumers, and what they're truly interested in, and what they're willing to splurge on.

But, unfortunately, yes, continuing to see some of these job losses. And with that in mind, Macy's also cutting jobs. Planning to slash more than 3% of its employees in addition to closing five of its retail stores. Now, the company is saying it wants to redirect spending to improve the shopping experience for customers.

And, again, this is a post-pandemic situation. People coming back to malls. They're looking for a little bit more. If you're going to draw people out and you're not going to be giving as many bargains as we saw over the holiday season, they're going to need more impetus to come in and spend. So we're seeing this, at least, an attempt at an improvement in the shopping experience.

Unfortunately, some of these companies as they're trying to get those customers back in the door, making some other cutbacks, and perhaps the less profitable parts of the business.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah. Rachelle, you talk about a changing consumer. Macy's is one of those names. Pre-pandemic, post-pandemic-- they're still trying to find its footing in a changing retail landscape. We think about Macy's the big footprint they have in malls. But this is a company that's trying to scale it back a bit. It's not just about the closures. It's about leaning on other brands they have like, Bloomingdale's, like Bluemercury, really trying to go to where the consumer is, and trying to find out what that new mix looks like.

So a little more pain to come, if you think about where Macy's is right now. But really, that company undergoing a big transition right now, trying to reinvent the brand to become a little more relevant in this environment.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: It's true. Tough to find the right product mix, especially as consumers still have so much more than ever to pick from, especially when you look at other e-commerce options as well. And some of these cheaper up and comers. And, of course, you've got TikTok shop. People have a lot more options than they used to. So definitely going to have to do a little bit more reinventing there.