Shares of American retailer Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE:KSS) fell 5.2% on May 30, following social media backlash for the sale of LGBTQ+ merchandise for Pride Month. June is internationally known as Pride Month, and Kohl’s introduced merchandise, including onesies for infants, that promoted the theme. As of Tuesday, posts featuring #boycottkohls started doing the rounds and received nearly 280,000 views on TikTok.
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Kohl’s Pride Month-based merchandise is available both in-store and online, and critics have uploaded videos of the products with hateful content.
Kohl’s is not the only one facing such mass criticism for promoting the LGBTQ+ cause. Retailer Target (NYSE:TGT) and brewing company, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA (NYSE:BUD) also experienced similar backlash and associated stock price plunges in earlier months. While Target said it would remove some of the criticized merchandise, BUD is giving away its beer for free to get rid of the inventory.
These companies worry about the safety of their employees from enraged customers. In retort, advocates of LGBTQ groups are criticizing the companies for not defending themselves. Retailers are already struggling with inventory management issues and shifting consumer preferences amid an inflationary environment. In between this chaos, trying to juggle consumer backlash from one section of society is not in their best interest. Just last week, Kohl’s posted a surprise Q1FY23 earnings beat. Year-to-date, KSS stock is down 20.9%.
What Is the KSS Stock Price Target?
On TipRanks, Kohl’s has a Hold consensus rating based on three Buys, six Holds, and four Sell ratings. The average Kohl’s price target of $24 implies 26.3% upside potential from current levels.
