Kohl’s Corporation’s KSS home business emerged as a notable bright spot in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, reflecting the company's ongoing efforts to refine assortments and deliver products that better align with customer preferences. While overall comparable sales declined 1.1%, Home was one of the few businesses to deliver flat to slightly positive comparable sales growth during the quarter.
The improvement was particularly meaningful given the category’s recent challenges. Home performance improved more than 400 basis points from the fourth quarter, aided by stronger customer response to innovation and fresh product offerings. Newness from brands such as Shark and Ninja resonated well with shoppers, helping drive momentum across the category.
Beyond national brands, Kohl’s is also leaning into proprietary offerings within soft home and tabletop categories through brands, such as Mariana and Mingle & Co. The balanced mix of innovation, value and exclusive products appears to be driving greater customer engagement.
Home decor was another area of progress. The business delivered low-single-digit growth after significant underperformance in the prior quarter. The turnaround followed assortment adjustments in seasonal decor, where the company previously carried excessive depth in select products while offering limited variety. A broader and more balanced assortment appears to have improved customer response.
The first-quarter results suggest that product newness is playing an increasingly important role in reviving Kohl’s Home business. The category’s recovery highlights how thoughtful merchandising and innovation can help reengage shoppers in a business that had previously struggled to gain momentum.
How WMT and TGT Stack Up
Walmart Inc. WMT is also seeing traction in discretionary categories, with U.S. general merchandise comps up mid-single digits in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. Walmart’s marketplace growth in hardlines, home and apparel was more than 40%, while private-brand sales rose double digits, underscoring the company’s ability to use value-led newness to drive broader category engagement. WMT posted its strongest general merchandise share gains in five years, suggesting that it is gaining relevance beyond grocery.
Target Corporation TGT, meanwhile, is taking a more reset-driven approach in home. The company’s home furnishings and decor sales rose to $3,239 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 from $3,220 million in the year-ago period. TGT is beginning a multiyear home reinvention, including changes to nearly three-fourths of decorative accessories, with kids’ home and bedding updates planned later this year. For Target, newness remains a work in progress.
KSS Stock Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Kohl’s have surged 72.6% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 61.9%.
KSS Price Performance Versus Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, KSS trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 12.1, lower than the industry’s average of 13.44.
KSS’ Valuation Compared to Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KSS’ current fiscal-year earnings per share implies a year-over-year decline of 19.1%, while the consensus mark for the next fiscal year’s EPS suggests growth of 7.6%.
Kohl’s currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).