Black Friday winners Include Best Buy, losers include Pets, says Wedbush

After completing channel checks, reviewing industry data, and analyzing retailers’ promotions over Black Friday weekend, Wedbush analyst Seth Basham notes consumers were chasing deals, with discounting up year-over-year across most retailers, but promotions were not extreme for most hardlines retailers under coverage. Overall, consumers appear to be returning to more normal holiday shopping timing after pulling forward many sales to October last year due to supply chain headlines, possibly indicating that this Black Friday period did not live up to expectations, Basham adds. He sees hardlines retailers with strong omnichannel capabilities and disciplined promotion strategies best positioned near-term, with Dick’s Sporting (DKS), Academy Sports (ASO), Best Buy (BBY) and Tempur Sealy (TPX) at the top of his shopping list. In contrast, the analyst found much higher promotions year-over-year at Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY), Chewy (CHWY), Petco (WOOF) and direct-to-consumer mattress retailers.