Editor’s Pick – Investment Digger

Popular menswear retailer plans Wall Street return six years after bankruptcy

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:39:01 +0000

Tailored Brands, the owner of Men’s Wearhouse, is preparing to return to public markets six years after bankruptcy, but its pitch to investors goes beyond a simple stock listing.

The menswear retailer is also making an aggressive bet on physical stores.

Tailored Brands, which also owns Jos. A. Bank, Moores, and K&G Fashion Superstore, sees room for hundreds of new physical stores over the next decade as it makes its latest pitch to investors.

This is a striking reversal for a company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the pandemic and ultimately shuttered more than 400 stores.

The expansion comes as retailers across the U.S. continue to rethink their physical footprints and traditional department stores lose ground.

And in Tailored Brands’ view, it creates an opening for specialty retailers like them to offer services difficult to replicate online.

Men’s Wearhouse owner files for IPO

Tailored Brands publicly filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering and plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “MENW.”

The company has not yet determined how many shares it will offer or the expected price range.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Jefferies are serving as lead bookrunning managers for the proposed offering, according to the company.

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Tailored Brands plans to use proceeds from the offering in part to repay debt, with the remainder available for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, and capital expenditures.

Silver Point Capital, which acquired a significant stake following Tailored Brands’ bankruptcy, is expected to remain the company’s controlling shareholder after the IPO.

But the planned listing also marks a dramatic change from where the retailer stood in 2020.

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many offices closed, disrupting weddings and other events.

Consequently, demand for suits and formalwear collapsed.

At the time, Tailored Brands warned it could close as many as 500 stores before finally filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2020.

The company ultimately shuttered more than 400 locations during that period.

Now, after its relatively quick exit from bankruptcy in December 2020, Tailored Brands operates more than 1,000 stores across North America and is also preparing to expand again.

Men’s Wearhouse owner to file for IPO.

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Tailored Brands plans more than 500 additional stores

Tailored Brands expects to open about 20 stores in fiscal 2026 and more than 35 in fiscal 2027, before ramping up to more than 50 openings annually in the near term, according to its IPO filing.

Over the longer term, the retailer says it sees potential for more than 500 additional locations across 100-plus markets.

That plan stands out in a retail environment, where closures still exceed openings overall, even though the pace of closures is improving and openings are rising

CNBC reported that Coresight Research expects U.S. retailers to:

Close about 7,900 stores in 2026, down 4.5% year over year.
Open about 5,500 stores, up 4.4%.

This makes the projected store closures the lowest in three years.

More importantly, Tailored Brands believes some of that disruption could work in its favor.

In its IPO filing, the retailer pointed specifically to the retreat of department stores, which historically held a major position in suits, dress clothing, and other apparel categories.

The company, citing U.S. Census Bureau data, said the number of department stores fell by more than 40% between 2018 and 2023.

Tailored Brands argues that as department stores disappear, spending is shifting toward specialty retailers.

“We believe our focus on menswear, our high-touch service and our offering with unparalleled expert advice and fit solutions position us favorably to continue capturing share from department stores and competing effectively against e-commerce and off-price retailers,” reads the SEC filing.

Its own stores are also largely insulated from the struggles of enclosed malls.

More than 90% of Tailored Brands’ locations were outside malls at the end of fiscal 2025, and the company said its entire store fleet was profitable on a four-wall basis.

Now, the company is using customer data, trade-area demographics, results from its existing stores, and competitor information to identify markets for expansion.

Weddings and rentals remain key

Tailored Brands is also betting that stores still matter for purchases that require more service than a typical apparel transaction.

Suits and formalwear often require measurements, alterations, and styling, while weddings can bring entire groups of customers into stores for fittings and rentals.

That rental business gives Tailored Brands a particularly strong position.

The company said in its SEC filing that it is the leader in the U.S. men’s apparel rental market, capturing roughly half of the market annually since 2018 and nearly 60% more recently.

Rentals are also a high-margin part of the business.

Tailored Brands reported rental selling margins of 85.5% in fiscal 2025.

But Tailored Brands is no longer relying solely on traditional suits.

Since its restructuring, the company has modernized its assortment, expanded its casual and flexible clothing offerings, and increased its reliance on products sold under its own brands.

Private brands accounted for roughly 88% of its assortment by the end of fiscal 2025.

Those changes are important as workplace dress codes have become more casual, and fewer consumers need traditional business suits every day.

Instead, Tailored Brands increasingly depends on a mix of weddings, celebrations, job interviews, professional events, and other occasions to bring shoppers into its stores.

That creates another challenge revealed in its IPO filing: getting those customers to come back.

Nearly 70% of Tailored Brands’ customers are classified as new or reactivated shoppers, and the company attracted roughly 6 million new and reactivated customers in fiscal 2025.

Customers averaged only 1.6 visits per year.

Tailored Brands sees converting even part of that large group into repeat shoppers as a major growth opportunity.

Tailored Brands posts higher sales ahead of IPO

The retailer is returning to Wall Street with a significantly different financial profile than when it entered bankruptcy.

Tailored Brands generated about $2.5 billion in net sales and $217 million in net income in fiscal 2025.

Its gross margin reached 48.2%, and the company said its menswear market share increased by about 70 basis points between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2025.

The latest quarter showed continued sales growth.

Revenue increased 5.8% to $681.8 million for the three months ended May 2, compared with $644.4 million a year earlier.

Net income, however, declined to $44.9 million from $50.7 million during the same period a year earlier.

The planned IPO will therefore serve more than one purpose.

It gives Tailored Brands access to public equity markets as it prepares for a major expansion, while also allowing the company to direct some proceeds toward debt reduction.

Retail IPO market remains difficult

Tailored Brands is also trying to return to Wall Street during an unusual period for consumer companies.

The broader U.S. IPO market has surged in 2026, but retail has largely been left behind.

Only five U.S. consumer and retail IPOs had priced so far this year as of July 22, the lowest year-to-date number in a decade, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

That could soon change.

Jersey Mike’s and fashion retailer Reformation have both moved forward with IPO plans and together are seeking to raise more than all U.S. consumer and retail IPOs completed so far this year.

Reuters identified Tailored Brands as one of the retailers waiting in the IPO pipeline that could benefit if those offerings perform well.

For Tailored Brands, however, the bigger test goes beyond whether investors are ready for another retail stock.

Six years ago, the company was closing hundreds of stores as demand collapsed.

Now it is asking investors to back the opposite strategy.

A return to public markets, hundreds of additional stores, and a bet that the decline of traditional department stores has left room for a specialty menswear retailer to grow.

AMC just silenced the doubters with one quarter

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 10:38:43 +0000

Wall Street has a short memory for companies it has already written off. Once a stock gets labeled a lost cause, the label tends to outlive the facts, because updating a story takes more effort than repeating one.

Movie theaters have worn that label since 2020. The industry lost most of its audience during the Covid shutdowns, then lost a chunk of what came back to bigger televisions, shorter waits before a film hits streaming, and a subscription service in nearly every living room.

The standard analysis became a melting ice cube. Attendance drifts a little lower each year, chains close screens to protect margins, and the only real debate is how slowly the decline plays out.

That thesis has always carried one weakness inside it. Theater chains sit on enormous fixed costs, so the same math that punishes them in a weak year flips hard in the other direction the moment enough people actually show up.

Enough people showed up. AMC Entertainment (AMC) reported second-quarter results before the bell on Monday, July 20, and the company cleared a profit mark it had never reached in 106 years of operating.

Why movie-theater economics swing so violently

A theater chain is close to a pure fixed-cost business. Rent, insurance, projection equipment, and a baseline of staffing are all paid for, whether an auditorium holds 12 people or 120.

That is why exhibition looks dire in a weak year and looks like a different industry in a strong one. Every incremental ticket sold after the fixed costs are covered drops almost straight to the bottom line.

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The second quarter put hard numbers on that idea. Operating expense, excluding depreciation and amortization, landed at $458.4 million, matching the prior year to the decimal, while rent moved only from $222.6 million to $223.8 million, according to AMC’s second-quarter earnings release.

Revenue over that same stretch climbed by roughly $199 million.

I have covered enough exhibitor quarters to know that flat costs paired with rising revenue is the only combination that ever repairs a debt-heavy theater chain. Everything else is cosmetic.

AMC welcomed 52.5 million moviegoers in U.S. theaters during the second quarter of 2026.

Maskot / Getty Images

What AMC’s record second quarter actually delivered

Total revenues reached $1.597 billion, up 14.2%, and adjusted EBITDA hit $321.4 million, the first time the company has ever cleared $300 million in a single quarter, according to AMC’s earnings release.

Adjusted EBITDA is what is left after stripping out interest, taxes, and the accounting charge for aging assets, which makes it the number lenders watch most closely.

The gap against expectations was not subtle. Adjusted profit arrived at 14 cents per share against forecasts for a loss of 6 cents, with revenue estimates sitting at $1.47 billion, reported Reuters, citing LSEG data.

AMC chairman and chief executive Adam Aron did not undersell it. In 106 years, “never before has AMC had such superb results,” he said in the release.

Here is the AMC’s second-quarter earnings release at a glance:

Total revenue of $1.597 billion, up from $1.398 billion
Adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.1%, up from 13.6% a year earlier
U.S. attendance of 52.5 million patrons, up 12%
International attendance up 17.9%, with segment adjusted EBITDA of $35.8 million
Free cash flow of $190.1 million, versus $88.9 million a year ago
Industry-wide domestic box office of roughly $2.99 billion, up 10.7%

Six separate films opened above $75 million domestically during the quarter, and Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” followed with a reported $124 million debut in July, reported Reuters.

Notably, the average U.S. ticket price actually slipped to $12.70 from $12.77. The record came from volume, not from charging moviegoers more.

Management says that is deliberate. “We can grow our revenue per patron without necessarily increasing price,” chief financial officer Sean Goodman told analysts, according to TheWrap.

More than half of AMC’s U.S. guests during the quarter were Stubs loyalty members, according to The Wrap, which is the payoff.

The per share math behind AMC’s blockbuster numbers

Here is where my analysis parts ways with the celebration.

AMC survived the past six years by selling stock, repeatedly. Diluted weighted average shares outstanding hit 722.0 million in the second quarter, up from 433.1 million a year earlier, according to the earnings release.

That is 66.7% more owners splitting the same pie.

I ran the record adjusted EBITDA figure against that share count, and the result reframes the quarter entirely. Adjusted EBITDA per share worked out to roughly 44.5 cents, against about 43.7 cents in the same quarter last year.

A 69.6% jump in adjusted EBITDA became a 1.7% gain per share.

The debt load absorbs most of the rest. Interest expense of $136 million consumed 57% of the $238.1 million in operating income, and stockholders’ equity remains negative at about $1.45 billion, the earnings release revealed.

Sell-side reaction reflected that split. “While there’s still more work to do here, this was a source of hope,” wrote B. Riley Securities analyst Drew Crumb, according to Deadline.

Others stayed skeptical about the durability of the turn. “Strong quarters, like this one, will happen now and again,” said eMarketer senior analyst Ross Benes, Reuters reported.

What the rest of 2026 decides for AMC investors

The near-term calendar is the bull case. Aron pointed to “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” arriving in two weeks, with “Dune: Part Three” and “Avengers: Doomsday” landing before Christmas.

The balance sheet has bought time to find out whether that slate delivers. AMC pushed its next meaningful debt maturity out to 2029 and expects lower borrowing costs to trim roughly $51 million more from annual interest expense if current conditions hold, the earnings release confirmed.

Analysts have started to move. Texas Capital upgraded the stock to buy and lifted its target to $3 from $2, according to TipRanks.

For anyone holding shares, the question for the second half is narrower than it looks. It is not whether the box office recovers, because the second quarter settled that.

It is whether AMC can go a full 12 months without issuing more stock. Do that, and the fixed-cost math finally works for existing shareholders instead of for the next round of buyers.

Fail, and 2026 becomes one more record the owners of this company never got to keep.

Costco expands pharmacy, prescription services for members

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:38:46 +0000

I’ve been a Costco member for about 20 years. And when I first signed up, my warehouse trips were pretty predictable.

I’d stock up on bulk groceries, grab a few household essentials, and somehow leave with far more snacks than I ever intended to buy.

Over time, though, Costco became much more than a place to buy giant jars of peanut butter and paper towels.

I’ve purchased tires, used Costco for home services, booked travel, and increasingly relied on its pharmacy.

That’s part of a larger shift happening across the retailer as Costco continues turning its membership into something that delivers value well beyond the warehouse shelves.

The company’s latest earnings show that strategy is paying off — especially in its pharmacy business, where Costco is expanding services while giving members more ways to save on prescription medications.

Costco’s pharmacy business keeps adding value

During Costco’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call, CFO Gary Millerchip highlighted pharmacy as one of the company’s strongest-performing ancillary businesses.

“Pharmacy led the way and saw significant market share gains in the quarter,” Millerchip said.

He added that several factors are driving that momentum.

“These include increased GLP-1 demand, and inclusion of Wegovy and Ozempic in our Member Prescription Program, great value on pet medications, acceptance of Medicare D over-the-counter flex cards, and expansion of our mail order and specialty pharmacy offerings,” Millerchip said.

Each of those initiatives addresses a growing consumer need.

Demand for GLP-1 medications continues to climb, with the percentage of U.S. adults who currently take GLP-1 medications for weight loss rising from 3% in 2024 to 11% in 2026, according to Gallup.

Mail order pharmacy services have also become increasingly popular among consumers looking for convenience and automatic refills.

A 2025 JD Power survey found that customers were more satisfied with mail order pharmacy services than in-store service, Pharmacy Times reported.

For pet owners, meanwhile, Costco’s pharmacy is often another overlooked benefit. Many common pet medications are available at prices that often compare favorably with veterinary offices, creating another opportunity for members to save.

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A focus on pharmacy makes sense for Costco and its members

Costco’s push for expanded pharmacy services is a smart play because prescription medications generate recurring visits.

Customers filling monthly prescriptions are more likely to stop by the warehouse regularly, where many inevitably purchase additional items during the same trip.

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Mail order pharmacy expands that relationship even further by keeping Costco connected with members, even when they don’t visit a warehouse.

From a business perspective, health care also fits naturally into Costco’s membership model.

The company doesn’t have to maximize profits on every prescription. Instead, offering competitive pricing and convenient services helps strengthen the overall value of a membership, increasing the likelihood that customers renew year after year.

Given that membership fee income totaled $1.37 billion during Costco’s most recent quarter, that right there is a win.

And for members, the benefits are straightforward.

Whether it’s access to popular GLP-1 medications, lower-cost pet medications, Medicare Part D over-the-counter flex card acceptance, or expanded mail-order and specialty pharmacy services, the warehouse club is making health care more convenient while potentially lowering out-of-pocket costs.

That’s a win for shoppers looking to stretch their health care dollars, and it’s also smart business for Costco.

Every additional service that saves members time or money makes the annual membership feel more valuable.

In an increasingly competitive retail environment, that’s exactly the kind of advantage that helps Costco keep customers loyal long after they’ve filled their shopping carts.

Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.

Another beloved beer brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:38:33 +0000

Manufacturing a high-quality beer doesn’t always guarantee success in the craft brewery business.

Award-winning craft beer maker Coldwater Mountain Brewpub LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure its debts and reorganize its business after over four years of operating. The debtor did not give a reason for filing for bankruptcy n its petition.

The Anniston, Ala.-based brewery and restaurant filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama on July 15, listing up to $50,000 in assets and $500,000 to $1 million in debts, according to court documents.

Coldwater Mountain Brewpub seeks to reorganize its business in a bankruptcy court.

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Brewery has over $700,000 in debts

Coldwater Mountain Brewpub’s largest unsecured creditors include the Internal Revenue Service, owed over $454,000; Alabama Department of Revenue, owed over $228,000; Calhoun County Revenue Commissioner, owed over $11,000; and Chase Bank, owed over $11,000.

No funds will be available to pay unsecured creditors after administrative expenses, according to the petition.

The brewpub continues operating during its bankruptcy case.

Downturn in craft beer industry

The Anniston brewery faced a downturn in the industry prior to its bankruptcy filing.

Craft brewer volume sales declined by 4% in 2025, while retail dollar sales decreased by 2.8% to $28 billion, which accounts for 24.8% of the $113 billion U.S. beer market, the Brewers Association said.

The number of operating craft breweries also declined by 2.9% to 9,578 in 2025, the association said.

Among the headwinds was the rising cost of beer ingredients, which has been a major contributor to economic issues in the industry.

“Raw material costs have emerged as a significant constraint in the North American craft beer market, with substantial increases in the prices of essential ingredients,” according to a 2026 North American Craft Beer Market Report by Mordor Intelligence.

“The impact of these cost increases has been particularly severe on production economics, forcing breweries to revise their pricing strategies and operational models,” the report said.

Coldwater Mountain Brewpub has brewed some notable beers, as it was presented a 95% quality score from the 2025 Quality Business Awards, representing the top 1% of similar businesses in the country.

Brewpub opened in 2022

Owner Jason Wilson, a former CEO of the Back Forty Beer Company, launched the brewery in February 2022 after he was approached in 2021 by the new owner of the historic L&N Freight House building, built in 1885 in downtown Anniston, about opening a new brewpub in the city, according to Coldwater Mountain Brewpub’s website.

Wilson was not immediately available for comment on July 19.

The building’s owner, Earlon McWhorter, discussed possibly opening a Back Forty Beer franchise with Wilson and another partner Tommy Stevens, but the trio decided to open a new brewery unique to Anniston, the website said.

Operating a craft brewery in Alabama has been a challenge for entrepreneurs in recent years because of legal obstacles. In the late 1990s, brewpubs did not exist in Alabama, according to Coldwater Mountain Brewpub’s website.

Strict Alabama beer laws

Beer laws were strict in Alabama in 2008 when Wilson began his efforts to launch Back Forty Beer. Back then, it was illegal in the state to produce or sell a beer that exceeded 6% alcohol by volume, which would eliminate a lot of craft beer styles.

It was also illegal to operate a tasting room at the brewery or sell beer directly to the public, according to Back Forty Beer’s website. The brewery persevered and launched its first beer, Naked Pig Ale, in June 2009, brewed through a contract brewer in Mississippi and a second beer, Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale in March 2010.

Back Forty Beer began producing beer at its Gadsden, Ala., brewery in 2012.

Wilson left Back Forty Beer in April 2021, according to The Gadsden Times. Later that year, he established Coldwater Mountain Brewpub.

Apple just raised prices again and the big one is still coming

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 10:39:51 +0000

Apple isn’t just counting on customers to keep buying iPhones. It also expects them to keep paying every month long after they’ve bought one.

While Apple built its reputation selling cutting-edge devices, its fastest-growing profit engine has become Services, the business that keeps generating revenue after customers leave the store.

Despite its name, Apple’s Services segment is about far more than servicing devices.

Apple’s Services segment is the catch-all for all the ways the company makes money after a device is already in a customer’s hands. That includes the commissions the company gets when you pay for something in the app store, or buy an in-app service from a downloaded app.

It also includes subscriptions like Apple Music, TV+, and iCloud+, AppleCare warranties, the multibillion-dollar licensing payment Google makes to stay Safari’s default search engine, advertising, and Apple Pay.

It’s a business that might not get a lot of media attention, but it provided roughly a quarter of revenue in fiscal 2025. More importantly, Services carries a gross margin north of 75%, more than double the 36% Apple earns on hardware, according to Apple’s fourth-quarter earnings release.

Now, Apple has made a bold play to increase that revenue by raising the prices on a number of its subscription services.

Apple bets you won’t cancel

Like many Apple customers, I have a bundled Apple One Family subscription.

Every Apple One tier includes Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Arcade, plus iCloud+ storage. The tiers differ in storage amount, whether you can share with family, and, at the top, two extra services.

Apple One Individual runs $19.95/month and includes Apple TV, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and 50GB of iCloud+ storage, for a single user.
Family is $25.95/month and includes the same services but bumps storage to 200GB and lets you share with up to five other people via Family Sharing.
Premier is the everything tier and adds the two services the lower plans don’t have: Apple Fitness+ and Apple News+, on top of 2TB of iCloud+ storage, shareable with up to five other people.
Source: Apple

Apple has raised the price of the Family and Premier Apple One tiers, while the Individual offering’s price has not changed.

Individual: $19.95 (unchanged)
Family: $27.95 (up from $25.95)
Premier: $39.95 (up from $37.95)

Apple did not announce the price change. Instead, it just changed the pricing on its website.

The company also quietly raised the cost of its Apple Music subscriptions:

Individual: $11.99 (up from $10.99)
Family: $19.99 (up from $16.99)
Student: $6.99 (up from $5.99)

“As a result of rising licensing costs, Apple Music is increasing its subscription price beginning today,” the company shared in a statement to 9to5Mac.

Apple’s move follows Spotify’s own subscription price increases earlier this year, narrowing the pricing gap between the two streaming rivals. Even after the latest increases, Apple Music still costs less than Spotify’s standard individual plan.

Services have become Apple’s revenue driver

RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino thinks Apple raised the price of Apple Music along with the One bundle price for a strategic reason.

“By jacking up the price of Apple Music, they make the Apple One bundle look like a bargain by comparison, practically forcing you to upgrade. It’s sad, but because of the way the digital platforms are working, more iPhone users are going to be forced into this situation of paying for subscriptions,” he told TheStreet.

The increase, assuming it does not cause people to drop their subscriptions, should add to Apple’s bottom line.

“Services are no longer just a supporting character inside Apple. It has become a substantial portion of revenue and represents an even bigger share of profits — and it’s helping the company turn its massive device footprint into repeatable, higher-margin revenue,” according to The Motley Fool’s Daniel Sparks.

Apple’s Services revenue stabilizes the company.

Apple’s growing Services revenue makes it a more stable company that’s not as dependent on product replacement cycles.

“This, in turn, improves Apple’s earnings potential and helps the tech company be less dependent on iPhone, which accounts for more than 50% of revenue,” Sparks added.

Evercore ISI analysts believe that investors have ignored Apple’s Services business by focusing too much on its short-term prospects as a hardware company.

“The firm recently raised its price target on Apple stock to $365 while maintaining an ‘Outperform’ rating, citing the company’s growing ability to monetize its massive installed base of more than 2.5 billion active devices through subscriptions, payments, cloud services, advertising, licensing, and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven offerings,” according to Yahoo Finance.

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The company set a number of records in its most recent quarter with Services leading the way.

“Apple Inc. is proud to report $111.2 billion in revenue, up 17% from a year ago and a March record, which was above the high end of our guidance range despite constraints. Customer enthusiasm for iPhone has been extraordinary, with revenue growing 22% year over year to achieve a March record. Services reached an all-time revenue record, growing 16% from a year ago, while EPS set a March record of $2.10, up 22% year over year,” the company shared in its second-quarter earnings release.

Apple has not raised iPhone prices yet.

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Apple also recently raised hardware prices

Apple raised prices on June 25, according to TheStreet’s Aparajita Chatterjee. The company raised prices on Macs and iPads, but has excluded the iPhone for now.

The company raised prices on several Mac and iPad models by $200 or more, with the base MacBook Air rising $200 to $1,299 and the base MacBook Pro rising $300 to $1,999, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The iPad Air and iPad Pro also saw price increases, according to the report.

The increases come after Apple CEO Tim Cook told the Journal that price increases were becoming unavoidable due to higher costs for memory and storage chips.

It’s likely that Apple will wait until its next iPhone release before it raises prices on its phone. It’s also possible that the company is willing to sacrifice margins on its phones in order to keep its customer base intact in order to support its Services revenue.

Analysts expect an increase, but disagree on the amount.

Some investors and consumers have worried that Apple could eventually need to raise iPhone prices by $200 or more to offset higher component costs.

Bank of America recently raised its assumed price increase for some iPhone models, as covered by TheStreet.

However, JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee reportedly sees a less dramatic outcome.

According to Seeking Alpha, Chatterjee expects the iPhone 18 series to launch with a more modest price increase than some press estimates, closer to about $50 or a mid-single-digit percentage range.

There are over 150 million active iPhones in the U.S., making it a core part of American life, according to Statista.

Taco Bell supplier pulls lettuce after parasite outbreak

Sat, 18 Jul 2026 10:38:32 +0000

A parasite that causes prolonged bouts of watery diarrhea has been spreading across parts of the Midwest, sickening more than 1,600 people and sending dozens to hospitals.

In the most recent update from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the illnesses have now been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants.

This update has turned what began as a public-health investigation into a major food-supply problem for one of the country’s largest fast-food chains.

Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that can contaminate food or water through contact with fecal matter.

Unlike some common stomach illnesses that pass within a few days, cyclospora infections can cause symptoms that last for weeks or even longer.

The most common symptom is frequent, watery diarrhea.

People may also experience stomach cramps, bloating, nausea, fatigue, weight loss, vomiting, body aches, headaches, and fever.

Symptoms can improve over time, but also return if the infection is not treated.

So far, the FDA has connected 1,644 illnesses to shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

At least 94 people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

Illnesses began between May 13 and July 13, according to the FDA.

Now the produce company identified as Taco Bell’s lettuce supplier is taking broader action.

Taylor Farms said July 17 that its Mexican operation is voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market.

Taylor Farms pulls Mexican iceberg lettuce amid cyclospora outbreak

Taylor Farms said the FDA’s traceback investigation identified a specific independent farm in central Mexico as the potential source of the outbreak.

The farm accounts for less than 1% of the iceberg lettuce supplied in the U.S., according to the company.

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Still, Taylor Farms said it is indefinitely removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from the region, rather than limiting the action to the individual farm under investigation.

“As a family-owned company, we are deeply concerned for those who became ill, their families, and the Americans whose trust in the safety of fresh produce has been shaken,” Taylor Farms said.

The FDA has not named Taylor Farms on its public outbreak page.

However, news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the investigation, identified Taylor Farms as the supplier of the shredded lettuce served at affected Taco Bell restaurants.

Investigators reviewed food histories from people who reported eating at Taco Bell before becoming sick.

Of 190 patients included in the ingredient-level analysis, 90% reported eating iceberg lettuce.

The FDA’s traceback investigation then converged on one supplier of Mexican iceberg lettuce used at restaurants where customers later became ill.

Federal and state officials have begun collecting samples for testing. The FDA has also increased border screening for products implicated in the investigation.

Taylor Farms has issued removal of all iceberg lettuce from linked supplier of parasitic outbreak.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Taco Bell removes supplier’s lettuce nationwide

Taco Bell had already begun removing potentially affected lettuce from restaurants in select states after consulting public-health officials.

The chain then expanded that response by indefinitely removing the ingredient from the supplier across its nationwide supply chain.

“The affected ingredient from our supplier is being indefinitely removed from our supply chain nationwide and will be replaced within 24 hours in select states,” Taco Bell said.

The FDA said Taco Bell committed to stopping the use of any lettuce from the supplier identified in the traceback investigation.

But the agency also warned that additional states, restaurant chains, retailers, brands, or distribution channels could be identified as the investigation continues.

Taylor Farms addresses packaged salad concerns

The supplier’s name has caused anxiety beyond Taco Bell, as Taylor Farms has a large presence in both the restaurant and grocery industries.

Taylor Farms operates across retail, food-service, and prepared-food or deli businesses.

The company website says it has 22 production locations across North America, more than 24,000 employees, and supplies over 265 million servings of fresh food every week.

It also says it makes two out of every five value-added salads sold in the U.S.

Taylor Farms grows about one-quarter of its vegetables and obtains the rest through partnerships with 280 family-owned farms.

It also works with more than 800 ingredient suppliers.

The company produces whole vegetables, washed and cut produce, salad kits, snack products, and ready-to-eat meals.

It also manufactures private-label foods that may be sold under retailers’ or other businesses’ names.

Its known business relationships include Walmart, which named Taylor Farms its Food Supplier of the Year in 2022, and Gordon Food Service, a major distributor serving restaurants and institutional customers.

However, the size of the company’s network does not mean all Taylor Farms products or customers are connected to the outbreak.

Taylor Farms said none of its branded salads or salad kits are associated with the current illnesses.

The company also said its branded salad kits do not contain iceberg lettuce.

That distinction is important because consumers have questioned online whether they should discard Taylor Farms salad kits and other packaged products unrelated to Taco Bell.

The FDA has not issued a blanket warning covering every Taylor Farms item, every packaged salad, or all iceberg lettuce sold nationwide.

Taylor Farms was also tied to McDonald’s E.coli outbreak

The Taco Bell investigation is the second major fast-food outbreak in less than two years involving produce supplied by Taylor Farms.

In October 2024, an E. coli outbreak was linked to slivered onions served on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified Taylor Farms as the supplier of onions sent to the affected McDonald’s restaurants.

The outbreak ultimately sickened 104 people across 14 states, and 34 people were hospitalized, while one person died.

At the time, McDonald’s temporarily removed Quarter Pounders from restaurants in affected markets, then returned them without slivered onions.

The outbreak also weighed on customer traffic and contributed to weaker U.S. comparable sales at McDonald’s during the quarter.

“The E.coli outbreak from the Quarter Pounder, which led to a temporary menu removal and a decline in visits, continues to have a lingering negative impact on sales,” read the company report.

This underscores how quickly a problem involving a single ingredient can become a financial and reputational threat for a national restaurant chain.

Taco Bell may now face the same challenge, although there is no evidence yet showing that the cyclospora outbreak has reduced its sales.

The chain’s decision to remove the supplier’s lettuce nationwide could help contain the damage, especially if federal officials do not connect the product to additional restaurants or states.

What to avoid in parasitic diarrhea outbreak

The FDA advises consumers not to eat food containing shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Consumers outside those five states have not been advised to avoid Taco Bell lettuce.

Anyone who purchased affected Taco Bell food should clean and sanitize any containers or surfaces that may have come into contact with the lettuce.

People who experience frequent watery diarrhea or other symptoms after eating Taco Bell lettuce in one of the five states should contact a health care provider.

Cyclospora infections can be treated with prescription medication, but untreated illnesses may persist for weeks and can lead to dehydration.

People with weakened immune systems may face a greater risk of prolonged or serious illness.

The FDA’s investigation remains ongoing, meaning the list of affected businesses, products, and states could still expand.

Target customers lose a big perk in August

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:38:37 +0000

When I was in college, Target used to be my go-to destination for clothes, throw pillows, and other random stuff I couldn’t really afford but bought anyway.

And it wasn’t just me. The old joke used to go that you’d walk into Target for milk and paper towels and leave with a $100 credit card bill.

These days, it’s easier to avoid impulse buys at Target, which is not great news for the company.

Target has lost a fair amount of appeal due to unexciting inventory, empty shelves, and disorganized stores. And the company is fully aware that major improvements are needed.

In February, CEO Michael Fiddelke acknowledged that Target had lost trust with shoppers and pledged to do better.

“We weren’t clear enough about who we are as a company,” Fiddelke admitted.

Under Fiddelke’s leadership, Target has a big plan to refresh stores, bring in more trend-forward merchandise, and improve the shopping experience to win back customers.

But just as those efforts are ramping up, Target is preparing to say goodbye to one of its most recognizable in-store partnerships.

Beginning in August, shoppers will start seeing the first signs that Ulta Beauty shop-in-shops are disappearing from Target stores as the companies wind down their partnership.

Target and Ulta Beauty partnership comes to an end

Target and Ulta Beauty’s partnership seemed like a match made in heaven. And when it first launched in 2021, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Back then, consumers were just getting used to the in-store shopping experience after spending much of 2020 staying out of stores and primarily ordering goods online. The convenience of having mini Ulta shops under Target’s roof was hard to beat.

But last year, the companies revealed they’d be parting ways in August of 2026.

As the partnership winds down, Ulta Beauty sections will begin closing in phases, and Target will replace the dedicated spaces with its own beauty merchandising strategy. While many beauty products will remain available, the dedicated Ulta-branded displays and exclusive in-store concept will disappear.

The move reflects both companies’ evolving priorities.

Ulta Beauty is refocusing on its stand-alone stores and digital business, while Target is working to build up the beauty category without relying on a major retail partner.

Ulta Beauty shop-in-shops are disappearing from Target stores.

Schwemmer/Shutterstock

Target is betting on its own beauty business

Rather than shrink its beauty department following the end of the Ulta partnership, Target plans to significantly expand it.

During its first-quarter 2026 earnings call, Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester highlighted beauty as one of the retailer’s highest-priority categories within its broader turnaround strategy.

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“In beauty, we’re preparing for this fall’s launch of our Target beauty studio in more than 600 stores, building on the momentum we’ve been seeing in the beauty category,” she said, noting that the company is “cultivating an assortment of trending beauty products and building out robust plans to support an efficient transition.”

Management also made clear that beauty is central to the company’s long-term growth strategy.

Sylvester told investors that Target is “intentionally leaning in more aggressively behind a set of prioritized assortments and guest needs.”

For consumers, the transition could ultimately mean a broader selection of products under the Target brand.

The shift is a strategic one for Target at a time when it’s looking to win customers back. The U.S. cosmetics market size was estimated at $62.97 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.1% through 2030, according to Grand View Research.

“With its higher than average growth rates and robust levels of consumer spending, more big box retailers have turned their focus onto the beauty category,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders wrote on LinkedIn.

“These investments have helped them edge out drugstore chains as the go-to spot for mass and masstige beauty brands who want to launch and scale fast.”

The challenge for Target, of course, is proving it can deliver an equally compelling beauty destination on its own.

But if Target succeeds, the strategy could help strengthen one of its fastest-growing categories, while giving shoppers another reason to make Target a regular stop again.

Maurie Backman owns shares of Target.

Millions of Americans take on debt for the most basic need

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:38:35 +0000

Think about the last time you did a grocery run and came out surprised at the total. Maybe you didn’t buy anything unusual. Just the usual things, the stuff you always get. And the receipt still felt off. That’s not a personal finance problem. It’s a math problem, and a new report suggests a lot of Americans are experiencing it.

The Urban Institute released findings on July 13 from its Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, which covered more than 10,000 adults. What it found is that groceries have become a source of debt for a significant and growing share of American households, and the situation has been getting worse.

How Americans are actually paying for food right now

About 63% of working-age adults used a credit card to buy groceries last year, CBS News reported. Most paid the balance off. But more than one in four didn’t. Of that group, 19.6% paid less than the full balance but kept up with minimum payments. Another 8.7% didn’t always make the minimum at all. That last number was 7.1% just two years ago. It’s moving in the wrong direction.

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Buy now, pay later has crept into the grocery aisle too. Nearly one in ten adults used BNPL to cover food purchases last year, and more than a third of those borrowers (34.8%) missed a payment, the Urban Institute found. And about 20% of working-age adults said they’d dipped into savings that were never meant to cover routine expenses just to pay for groceries.

Who is taking the worst of it

Lower- and middle-income households are carrying most of this. About 12% of them missed a credit card minimum payment on grocery purchases last year, which is roughly triple the rate for higher-income consumers. They were also about four times as likely to miss a BNPL installment as higher-earning households, Fox Business reported.

“For low- and moderate-income families, [groceries are] a really big portion of their budget, and so when food prices increase, they have much less breathing room to accommodate that,” said Kassandra Martinchek, co-author of the study and a public policy expert at the Urban Institute.

A May CBS News poll found more than three-quarters of Americans believe their incomes aren’t keeping up with inflation. That’s not just a feeling. Recent inflation data has outpaced wage growth, which means a lot of households are effectively earning less in real terms than they were a year ago.

Once savings get drained and card balances build up, families have less cushion for anything unexpected: a medical bill, a car repair, a job disruption

Milky/Getty Images

Why this is happening and why it’s getting harder

Grocery prices are up 32% over the past five years. That alone would be a lot to absorb. But 2026 has added fresh pressure. The ongoing Iran conflict has pushed energy costs higher, and consumer prices hit their highest level in more than three years earlier this year. Households that managed to get through the first wave of inflation by cutting other spending are running out of room to cut.

Food stamps are part of this story too. SNAP enrollment has fallen by nearly 5 million people over the past year, landing at about 37 million as of March. That drop came after Republicans passed new work requirements in 2025 through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which cut off benefits for people who couldn’t meet them. So at the same time grocery prices are climbing, fewer households have food assistance to fall back on.

The Urban Institute was direct about what all of this adds up to: “Although access to credit and savings can provide a lifeline for families struggling to meet basic needs, relying too much on these strategies may lead to financial instability if they have a hard time keeping up with debt or do not recover financially after drawing down savings.”

What this tells us about the broader economy

Total US household debt hit $18.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, up about $740 billion from a year earlier. The grocery debt story is one piece of that number, but it’s a telling piece because food is the least discretionary spending category there is. When people are borrowing for groceries, there isn’t much further to go before something else in the budget breaks.

Once savings get drained and card balances build up, families have less cushion for anything unexpected: a medical bill, a car repair, a job disruption. The debt doesn’t disappear; it just makes the next problem harder to handle. And for lower-income households already missing minimum payments, the fees and credit damage that follow make future borrowing more expensive too.

For anyone watching consumer spending trends, this is worth paying attention to. Credit card usage staying elevated even at high interest rates looks like consumer resilience on the surface. But when a meaningful chunk of that borrowing is going toward basic food purchases that people can’t pay off, that’s not resilience. It’s depletion.

PepsiCo CEO maintains full-year guidance amid higher gas prices

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:38:34 +0000

PepsiCo’s top executive did not sugarcoat things on the company’s latest earnings call.

Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta told analysts that the war in Iran has pushed gas prices higher, and that is changing how Americans shop.

The comments came during Pepsi’s (PEP) second quarter 2026 earnings call on July 9.

The world’s second-largest food and beverage company still posted strong growth. But Laguarta made clear that shoppers are feeling squeezed, especially at convenience stores and gas stations.

Gas prices are changing how people shop

Laguarta pointed directly to the conflict in Iran as a factor hurting consumer spending. “The Iran war and the impact on gas prices has been meaningful, not only in the U.S. but across the world.”

He explained that shoppers in the U.S. are pulling back in specific ways. People are stopping at gas stations and convenience stores less often, and when they do stop, they are buying less.

“We’ve seen a slowdown of the conversion of traffic into purchases,” Laguarta said, referring to convenience stores and other outlets tied closely to gas prices.

This channel is a key driver for Pepsi.

Chips, sodas, and energy drinks are grab-and-go purchases, and gas stations are among the biggest places people buy them on impulse. When gas costs more, that extra spending money disappears fast.

Chief Financial Officer Stephen Schmitt backed this up with the numbers. He said PepsiCo’s North American beverage business saw its operating margin fall about 90 basis points in the quarter.

Part of that drop came from weaker sales in convenience and gas channels.

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta warns of the ripple effect of higher oil prices.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Pepsi eyes $40B international milestone

Even with the gas price problem, PepsiCo’s overall results were far from bad.

Schmitt said net revenue for the company grew 7% in the first half of 2026.
Reported earnings per share grew 6% over the same period, while currency-adjusted earnings per share grew 3%.
Global volumes also grew, and Laguarta called it the fastest volume growth PepsiCo has seen since 2022.
Foods volume rose 3% worldwide, while beverage volume rose 2%.

International markets are carrying much of that growth. Laguarta said the company’s international business will cross $40 billion in revenue this year.

He noted that international beverage volumes now account for two-thirds of the company’s total volume, and international foods for more than half.

Interestingly, some international markets facing similar gas price pressure, including Vietnam, Thailand, China, and parts of the Middle East, held up better than expected.

“The truth is that all those markets have remained very resilient,” Laguarta said.

Gas prices will weigh on Pepsi sales

Looking ahead, PepsiCo is not counting on gas prices to drop anytime soon.

Laguarta said the company cannot control oil prices, so it is focused on things it can control.

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That includes working with retail partners on bundle deals and meal combinations designed to get gas station customers to buy more once they are already in the store.

“We continue to invest in affordability,” Laguarta said. “We’re working with our customer partners in solutions to convert more of the traffic in the store.”

Schmitt added that PepsiCo expects roughly a 1-point boost in earnings-per-share growth in the second half of the year from tariff refund claims tied to payments made last year.

That extra cash is expected to help offset rising commodity costs.

The company kept its full-year guidance in place, though Schmitt said results may land toward the lower end of its earnings range.

He also said profit improvement is likely to be more gradual in North America than originally expected, with the beverage business recovering faster than the foods business.

For now, PepsiCo’s message to investors is steady rather than alarming.

International growth is offsetting a softer U.S. picture, and management believes the gas price pressure hurting convenience store traffic will ease once energy costs come down.

Until then, the company is leaning on bundled offers and cost-cutting to keep sales moving in its toughest U.S. channels.

Target stands to gain as Ikea closes key U.S. stores

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:38:40 +0000

I’m convinced that you might know someone who went to Ikea for a lamp and came home three hours later with a car full of flat-pack boxes they didn’t plan on buying.

That’s the Ikea effect. It’s as if the maze-like stores are designed to make you forget you drove 45 minutes to get there.

That’s also precisely the problem Ikea was trying to solve in 2023 when it launched its smaller “Plan & Order Point with Pick-up” locations. Yes, the idea was smart: bringing Ikea closer to metro shoppers who weren’t willing to make the pilgrimage to the warehouse.

TheStreet reported that on Aug. 30, 2026, Ikea will close two of those locations. One in South Charlotte, North Carolina, and one in Austin, Texas, according to its website.

The Swedish retailer spent billions building the format it’s now walking away from. And when a giant retreats from a market, of course, someone else fills the space.

My understanding is that Target (TGT) is the most obvious beneficiary. In fact, the timing couldn’t be better for a retailer that just posted its strongest quarter in years.

Also Read: History of Target: Company timeline and facts

Why Ikea’s retreat leaves a real gap in two major markets

Let me be clear about what these closures actually mean. These weren’t full Ikea warehouse stores.

They were smaller service hubs designed to help customers plan purchases and pick up orders. Essentially, it was a direct attempt to capture urban and suburban shoppers who weren’t making the trip to the big-box locations.

That’s an important distinction. Ikea was using these locations to reach a specific kind of shopper. The apartment renters, young professionals, and first-time homeowners who want Scandinavian-style, budget-friendly design without the day-trip commitment.

In Charlotte and Austin — two of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country — that demographic is enormous.

Ikea Family membership data tells the story clearly. In fiscal year 2025, 25 million U.S. members generated 56% of all U.S. sales, with an average order value of $183 compared to $90 for non-members, according to Ikea U.S. FY25 Annual Summary.

These are loyal, high-spending customers. Closing the access points that brought them closer to the brand doesn’t make those shoppers disappear. It makes them available to whoever is conveniently nearby.

Why Target is positioned to capture Ikea’s displaced shoppers

I think the competitive overlap here is more direct than it first appears, and it comes down to three things.

First, Target wins the instant-gratification buyer. Ikea’s Plan & Order locations didn’t carry physical stock for immediate purchase. In fact, most of the time, most of us want to buy something we can see and judge based on our impressions.

If you’re a shopper who wants to see a piece of furniture, buy it, and take it home the same day, I bet you already have one obvious alternative in both markets. Target’s home furnishings section is built exactly for that transaction.

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Second, Target’s private label strategy mirrors Ikea’s aesthetic almost perfectly. Threshold, Studio McGee, and Opalhouse all hit the same minimalist, design-forward note at comparable price points.

If you discovered your taste for Scandinavian-influenced home decor through Ikea, you don’t need to change your style preferences to shop at Target. You only need to change your destination.

Third, proximity wins. Ikea’s traditional warehouses are sparse and require real planning to visit. With nearly 2,000 stores across the United States, Target operates about 10 miles from most doorsteps in America, according to a Target report.

When Ikea pulls back its metro presence, Target doesn’t need to do anything differently to capture the traffic. It just has to be there.

Home Furnishings and Decor represented 15% of Target’s total merchandise net sales of $104,780 million in fiscal year 2025. That’s $15.6 billion, according to Target‘s 2025 Annual Report.

That’s already a substantial business. Any meaningful shift in Ikea’s displaced metro shoppers flows directly into a category that Target already dominates.

Home Furnishings and Decor represented 15% of Target’s total merchandise net sales of $104,780 million in fiscal year 2025.

Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Target’s Q1 momentum makes the timing even more interesting

I wouldn’t be writing about this opportunity if Target were struggling. But the business is genuinely accelerating right now, which makes the select Ikea store closures land at a particularly favorable moment.

First-quarter 2026 net sales growth of 6.7%, well above expectations.
Comparable traffic grew 4.4% year over year.
Digital comparable sales rose 8.9%, led by more than 27% growth in same-day delivery through Target Circle 360.
Non-merchandise sales, which include advertising revenue through Roundel and marketplace revenue, grew nearly 25%.
Source: Target first-quarter earnings

CEO Michael Fiddelke called the results “stronger than expected” in the company statement, describing them as “encouraging early signs that our clarified strategy is resonating with our guests.”

The company raised its full-year net sales growth guidance to around 4% and guided adjusted EPS near the high end of its $7.50 to $8.50 range.

TGT shares were trading at $136.14, up 42.15% year to date and 36.67% over the past year, according to Yahoo Finance data as of July 13, 2026, in early trading hours. The S&P 500 returned 10.30% and 20.62% over those same periods.

After five years of painful underperformance, it looks like the recovery narrative is finally finding its footing. The timing itself feels more like an opening for Target than anything else.