Nordstrom turnaround?

Nordstrom, Inc JWN stock has taken a beating over the past few months:

This stock selloff followed a major downturn in social enthusiasm among consumers in the first half of 2015 – in other words, social-data on LikeFolio has proven to be a pretty good leading indicator for this stock.  That's typical for retail stocks where customers are likely to tweet their purchases.

So what's happening now, and how do we profit from it?  

Here's a snapshot of some of the data from the free LikeFolio app we were looking at:

As you can see, social volume for the company has been on the rise lately. What you can't see from this view is how far the volume had fallen off of late 2014 highs. Much like the stock is today, early 2015 was a bottoming process for social data in Nordstrom, and it's just starting to look attractive again.

Social Sentiment is telling a great story– over 90% positive mentions is phenomenal for an anchor-store retailer:

Part of this bullishness can be attributed to the new focus for Nordstrom, which is relying heavily on its Rack stores in outlet malls and, more importantly, a shift in strategy towards online sales.

The Talented Blonde, a highly respected mind in retail analysis, tells us that "Hautelook and Trunk Club were really smart acquisitions for Nordstrom that give them breadth and depth," something she says many in the "sunsetting" anchor-store industry are missing.

Bottom line?

Nordstrom may very well be in the midst of a very positive turnaround.  Social data has finally turned bullish after a year of languishing, which tells us that consumers are liking the moves the company is making.  

Bottom line:  Social data is improving for Nordstrom, and usually leads the stock by 3-6 months.  We are bullish on Nordstrom's turnaround, and looking for entry opportunities over the next 60 days.

–LikeFolio searches all of Twitter for important shifts in consumer behavior around the brands owned by publicly-traded companies.