Consumers clearly seeking discounts and promotions, says Neuberger Berman's San Marco
December 24, 2025 • 5m 2s
? (Correspondent)
00:00.230
joining
us
now
to
discuss
holiday
shopping
winners
and
losers
is
john
san
marco
from
newberger
berman
john
thank
you
for
being
here
you
just
look
at
some
of
these
winners
they're
the
some
of
the
older
ball
names
that
were
just
as
easily
left
for
dead
a
few
years
ago
what
do
you
? (Correspondent)
00:16.190
think
is
behind
the
rebound
in
some
of
these
names
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
00:19.670
yeah
great
to
see
you
thanks
for
having
me
on
i
think
that
you
you
said
that
you
set
up
the
explanation
well
many
many
of
the
stocks
you
reference
in
the
XRT
is
pretty
heavy
and
in
names
that
were
left
for
dead
you
know
there's
a
lot
of
more
marginal
competitors
there
that
were
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
00:34.600
in
the
crosshairs
of
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
headwinds
for
retail
so
as
the
consumer
has
proven
to
be
more
buoyant
and
resilient
than
than
i
think
we
would
have
expected
even
three
months
ago
you
know
there's
just
a
lot
more
torque
in
in
some
of
those
you
know
higher
higher
beta
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
00:50.270
retailers
in
the
mall
names
you
you
referenced
what
? (Correspondent)
00:53.070
what
about
the
flip
side
who
do
you
think
is
being
really
left
behind
in
this
current
environment
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
00:58.630
i
think
there's
still
some
value
you
know
in
in
higher
quality
steadier
more
consistent
players
you
mentioned
one
of
them
costco
but
you
know
given
given
the
the
date
today
you
know
maybe
just
with
a
little
more
holiday
flare
you
know
two
two
eyed
flag
or
you
know
dollar
tree
is
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
01:15.110
is
a
name
that's
you
know
twenty
twenty
five
they
withstood
this
these
hurricane
force
winds
from
tariffs
they're
coming
out
of
a
messy
transition
you
know
from
having
owned
family
dollar
from
some
management
instability
that
you
know
frankly
they
fumble
execution
i
think
for
in
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
01:32.110
the
second
inning
there
around
expanding
to
multiple
price
points
i
think
they've
executions
moving
in
the
right
direction
they've
resolved
those
issues
the
balance
sheets
in
great
great
shape
and
you
know
twenty
twenty
six
ought
to
be
a
year
where
where
they
can
really
sort
of
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
01:45.830
capture
some
some
of
these
earnings
discrete
cost
headwinds
they
faced
another
retailer
superb
quality
retailer
is
is
TJX
i
mean
this
is
you
know
i
think
in
in
all
weather
retailer
that
just
compounds
growth
but
weather
is
better
than
than
others
and
they're
just
they're
in
a
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
02:02.830
great
position
to
capture
the
high
income
consumer
that
that's
still
spending
i
heard
you
reference
the
kate
shaped
consumer
in
the
prior
segment
and
TX
is
in
a
great
place
to
serve
that
customer
who's
doing
OK
but
looking
for
for
value
and
they're
in
a
great
place
to
to
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
02:16.510
capitalize
on
on
other
retailers
misfortune
so
should
be
a
good
holiday
for
them
as
well
this
holiday
? (Correspondent)
02:22.230
season
are
you
given
that
tendency
to
trade
down
in
the
K
shaped
economy
are
you
seeing
more
promotions
or
given
some
the
supply
chain
challenges
from
earlier
in
the
year
are
the
margins
able
to
support
some
of
the
promotions
that
maybe
consumers
are
used
to
in
years
past
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
02:39.030
i
don't
know
that
we're
necessarily
seeing
more
promotions
in
fact
a
lot
of
retailers
are
using
the
the
magnitude
of
promotion
as
a
pricing
lever
to
to
offset
tariffs
but
i
think
the
consumer
you
know
seeking
those
promotions
and
so
in
in
many
respects
you
know
the
consumer
is
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
02:57.960
kind
of
going
to
determine
the
the
promotional
cadence
and
they're
just
shopping
closer
to
need
closer
to
the
last
minute
you
know
very
intentional
around
promotional
and
and
events
and
i
you
know
i
think
this
sort
of
coupon
clipping
cautious
holiday
you
know
is
good
for
the
two
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
03:15.800
retailers
i
mentioned
dollar
tree
and
TJX
i
do
think
there's
some
green
shoots
and
and
and
cause
for
optimism
about
about
twenty
twenty
six
and
you
know
perhaps
some
reversion
but
but
for
now
the
customers
clearly
you
know
heat
seeking
those
those
big
discounts
? (Correspondent)
03:30.950
what
are
the
green
shoots
for
twenty
twenty
six
well
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
03:34.070
the
the
biggest
that
the
implications
of
the
tax
reform
you
know
both
during
refund
season
and
and
the
withholding
impact
the
customer
is
going
to
have
a
lot
more
capacity
to
spend
just
as
they're
beginning
to
show
interest
for
the
first
time
in
several
years
broadly
speaking
in
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
03:52.950
discretionary
goods
you
know
something
they
they
shopped
like
crazy
early
in
covid
and
then
the
customer
the
consumer
stepped
away
from
for
years
so
the
consumers
coming
back
to
that
they're
going
to
have
this
these
tax
benefits
the
headwind
from
tariffs
are
about
as
bad
as
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
04:09.550
they're
going
to
get
like
today
in
in
the
alternative
data
that's
that's
pretty
ubiquitous
now
it's
about
as
bad
as
you're
of
an
impact
as
you'll
see
on
the
customer
it'll
it'll
start
to
abate
as
we
move
through
twenty
twenty
six
and
you
know
i
think
there's
you
know
there's
a
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
04:22.590
couple
laggards
i
think
could
could
be
great
comeback
stocks
you
know
home
depot
is
one
they're
really
well
positioned
for
the
tax
reform
they
they
serve
a
middle
income
and
high
income
homeowning
customer
who's
really
stepped
away
from
this
category
for
years
so
a
lot
of
pent
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
04:38.150
up
demand
and
costco
is
another
one
you
know
it's
quite
strange
to
discuss
costco
as
as
a
laggard
it's
just
executed
fundamentally
so
strongly
so
consistently
for
so
long
but
the
stock
was
you
know
came
into
last
year
quite
expensive
and
if
you've
seen
that
derating
and
so
now
John San Marco (Senior Research Analyst)
04:56.430
there's
reasonable
value
for
just
a
spectacular
quality
retail
asset
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