Cramer Shares His Concerns About Retail, And He Has A Lot To Say

Jim Cramer talked recently about the “pulverization of retail.” In a CNBC.com article, the animated financial market commentator talked about the abysmal performance of Kohl’s Corporation KSS, Macy’s, Inc. M, Nordstrom, Inc. JWN and Dillard’s, Inc. DDS, which, as a group, have each lost about half of their value in the past year.

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Cramer analyzed the sector based on each retailer’s ability to withstand the withering power of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, ranking them in four categories.

Sales

Based on sales, the companies Cramer examined ranked in the following order:

1. Nordstrom
2. J C Penney Company Inc JCP
3. Kohl’s
4. Dillard’s
5. Macy’s
6. Sears Holdings Corp SHLD

Survivability

On survivability, based on how badly earnings have declined:

1. J C Penney
2. Macy’s
3. Dillard’s
4. Kohl’s
5. Nordstrom
6. Sears

Balance Sheets

Next, Cramer looked at the group’s balance sheets:

1. Dillard’s
2. Nordstom
3. Macy’s
4. Kohl’s
5. J C Penney
6. Sears

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Strategic Flexibility

And finally, he reviewed each company for its strategic flexibility and ability to resist Amazon. His rankings were:

1. Nordstrom
2. J C Penney
3. Kohl’s
4. Macy’s
5. Dillard’s
6. Sears

Taken collectively, Cramer summed up the subjects of his examination by saying “From a pure survivability perspective, Nordstrom is the safest, followed by J C Penney, then Dillard’s and Kohl’s tied for fourth and the awful Sears Holdings coming in dead last.”