Kohl's Corporation
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Buy today and you are buying real estate and cash at a bit more than half of book — and at the same time a business that has shrunk for five years and, by its own forecast, will not grow in 2026 either. Watching here means checking the next quarterly reports against four numbers: do comparable sales turn positive (Q1 2026: down 1.1 percent)? Does the revolver stay undrawn (May 2, 2026: $0)? Do the claimed $140 million of tariff refunds actually arrive? And does adjusted earnings per share hold the $1.00 to $1.60 range the company guided to for 2026? Anyone drawn by the $0.50 annual dividend should know it was cut by three quarters in 2025. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Kohl's is the clearance-rack trap in its purest form: the price really is low — roughly $2.0 billion of market value against $15.53 billion of revenue, a bit more than half of book value, about two years of cash flow. And the substance is real: 402 stores owned outright, eleven owned logistics centers, $935 million of adjusted free cash flow in fiscal 2025, an undrawn revolver running to 2031. But revenue has fallen for a fifth straight year, the record cash flow came largely from a one-time $129 million settlement gain and a $203 million inventory reduction, the ratings sit deep in junk, and eleven of the most valuable properties are pledged to the holders of a bond paying 10 percent. Not investment advice.
Liquidity & balance sheet
Fiscal 2025 produced $1,380 million of operating cash flow and $935 million of adjusted free cash flow, up from $104 million a year earlier. The $1.5 billion revolving credit facility was undrawn on May 2, 2026, against $545 million a year before; the $353 million of notes maturing in 2025 were repaid from internal funds, and the amendment of June 30, 2026 extends the facility to 2031.
Assets & real estate
402 of the 1,153 locations are owned outright, along with eleven of thirteen logistics centers and the corporate headquarters (January 31, 2026). Property and equipment carries at $6.78 billion and equity at $4.02 billion (May 2, 2026) — against a market value of roughly $2.0 billion as of July 25, 2026.
Business trajectory
Total revenue has fallen for a fifth straight year: $19,433 million (2021), $18,098 million (2022), $17,476 million (2023), $16,221 million (2024), $15,527 million (2025). In fiscal 2025 net sales fell 4.0 percent, comparable sales 3.1 percent and transaction volume roughly 4 percent. Company guidance for 2026 is a decline of 2 percent to flat, reaffirmed on May 28, 2026.
Quality of the cash flow
The jump from $648 million to $1,380 million rests largely on two one-offs: a $129 million settlement gain from a credit card interchange fee lawsuit and $203 million from reducing inventories. On an adjusted basis, operating income was $510 million in 2025 against $509 million in 2024; the first quarter of 2026 saw an outflow of $74 million.
Leverage & ratings
On top of $1,405 million of bonds (May 2, 2026) sit roughly $5.1 billion of lease and financing obligations. Ratings stood at Moody's B2, S&P B+ and Fitch BB−, all below investment grade; the 2031 notes have stepped up 175 basis points since issuance, and the 2030 notes carry 10.000 percent — secured by eleven distribution and e-commerce fulfillment centers.
Leadership & payout
The chief executive was terminated for cause on April 30, 2025; the permanent successor took office only on November 23, 2025, and a new chief operating officer starts on September 9, 2026. The dividend was cut from $2.00 per share (fiscal 2024) to $0.50 (fiscal 2025), and there have been no share repurchases since 2024.
Worth Noting
Kohl's reached our research list through two runs of our in-house stock scanner, both as of July 25, 2026: rank 30 of 81 in the Big Earnings Surprise ranking of the U.S. selection (RS rating 77) and rank 39 of 544 in the P/FCF ranking (ratio 2.02). Both lists are recomputed daily, so the placements are a dated snapshot rather than a property of the company. The 2.02 reading uses trailing twelve-month free cash flow; on the annual report basis ($1,008 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, $935 million adjusted) the ratio is about two.
Two sets of figures run side by side at Kohl's: the U.S. GAAP numbers (operating income $624 million, net income $272 million in fiscal 2025) and the company-adjusted values ($510 million and $186 million), which strip out the $129 million settlement gain and $15 million of store closing costs. Guidance for 2026 is stated exclusively on the adjusted basis. Anyone comparing years has to use the same basis — this article names both.
Data and recency: the most recent periodic report is the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended May 2, 2026, filed June 4, 2026. Every filing after that date was reviewed — Form 8-K of June 15, 2026 (appointment of the chief operating officer), Form 8-K of July 1, 2026 (Item 1.01, second amendment to the credit agreement), Schedule 13G/A of July 14, 2026 and Forms 4 through July 16, 2026. No merger, take-private or acquisition is pending; neither a DEFM14A or PREM14A merger proxy nor an SC 13E-3 has been filed. The share count comes from the most recent document naming one (113,399,993 shares). Valuation figures are orders of magnitude as of July 25, 2026, not daily prices.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at KSS since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 11.70 $ to 24.70 $ · Last price: 16.70 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Department Stores
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kohl's Corporation KSS | 1.9 | 7.0 | 5.8 | 40.5 | 1.5 | -4.3 | -0.2 |
| Dillard's, Inc. DDS | 9.9 | – | 9.6 | 41.2 | 14.0 | -0.4 | 11.2 |
| Macy’s Inc M | 5.7 | 9.1 | 4.9 | 40.3 | 1.8 | -1.7 | 28.8 |
| Polibeli Group Ltd PLBL | 2.0 | – | 0.0 | 7.4 | -24.7 | -33.1 | -44.6 |
| Median of companies shown | 3.8 | – | 5.3 | 40.4 | 1.6 | -3.0 | 5.5 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 19,681 | 1,183 | 556 | 3.11 | 2,148 | 5,177 | 13,574 |
| 2018 | 20,084 | 1,416 | 859 | 5.11 | 1,691 | 5,426 | 13,340 |
| 2019 | 20,229 | 1,361 | 801 | 4.85 | 2,107 | 5,527 | 12,469 |
| 2020 | 19,974 | 1,099 | 691 | 4.37 | 1,657 | 5,450 | 14,555 |
| 2021 | 15,955 | -262 | -163 | -1.06 | 1,338 | 5,196 | 15,337 |
| 2022 | 19,433 | 1,680 | 938 | 6.34 | 2,271 | 4,661 | 15,054 |
| 2023 | 18,098 | 246 | -19 | -0.16 | 282 | 3,763 | 14,345 |
| 2024 | 17,476 | 717 | 317 | 2.86 | 1,168 | 3,893 | 14,009 |
| 2025 | 16,221 | 509 | 109 | 0.97 | 648 | 3,802 | 13,559 |
| 2026 | 15,527 | 510 | 272 | 2.37 | 1,476 | 4,048 | 13,362 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q3 | 0.59 | 13.50 | 3,732 | -4.20 | 1.80 | 254 | 141 |
| 2024: Q4 | 0.20 | -63.00 | 3,710 | -8.50 | 0.60 | -195 | -323 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.43 | -74.30 | 5,397 | -9.40 | 0.90 | 596 | 497 |
| 2025: Q2 | -0.13 | 45.80 | 3,233 | -4.40 | -0.50 | -92 | -202 |
| 2025: Q3 | 1.35 | 128.80 | 3,546 | -5.00 | 4.30 | 598 | 488 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.10 | -50.00 | 3,575 | -3.60 | 0.20 | 124 | 16 |
| 2026: Q1 | 1.07 | 148.80 | 5,173 | -4.20 | 2.40 | 750 | 640 |
| 2026: Q2 | -0.13 | 0.00 | 3,167 | -2.00 | -0.40 | -74 | -158 |
| 2026: Q3 | 1.28 | -5.20 | 3,515 | -0.90 | 4.30 | 552 | 552 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 6 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Earnings & Surprises
Momentum & Trend
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/31/2027 | 2.04 | 1.60 – 2.25 | 14,933 | 25.9% | 14 |
| 01/31/2028 | 1.57 | 1.23 – 1.91 | 14,939 | -23.2% | 14 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
With these assumptions (discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%), no growth rate between -20.0% and 60.0% per year explains today’s market value — the reverse calculation yields no meaningful figure here.
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $988.0M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.85B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | – |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | – |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 1.9% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Kohl’s verkauft keine KI, setzt sie aber nach eigenen Angaben bereits im laufenden Geschäft ein — im Geschäftsbericht 2025 als Bestandteil von Betriebsabläufen und Kundenerlebnis, in der Einladung zur Hauptversammlung 2026 konkret als generative KI zur Echtzeit-Auswertung von Kundenbewertungen und für personalisierte Produktempfehlungen.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We continue to incorporate artificial intelligence, including generative AI and machine learning technology, into our business operations and customer experiences."
Wir binden künstliche Intelligenz, einschließlich generativer KI und maschinellen Lernens, weiterhin in unsere Geschäftsabläufe und unser Kundenerlebnis ein.
10-K · 2026-03-19 · View SEC filing
„Leveraging generative AI to analyze customer reviews and interactions in real-time, allowing us to identify trends and deliver personalized product recommendations."
Einsatz generativer KI, um Kundenbewertungen und -interaktionen in Echtzeit auszuwerten; das erlaubt uns, Trends zu erkennen und personalisierte Produktempfehlungen auszuspielen.
DEF 14A · 2026-04-10 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-03-19 · 10-Q 2026-06-04 · DEF 14A 2026-04-10 · 8-K 2026-07-01 · 8-K 2026-06-15 · 8-K 2025-11-24
Rated on July 25, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -5.0%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -78.1%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -1.4%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 2.8%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 40.6%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 0.0%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 4.5 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 2,594 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 4.7%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 3.9%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
1/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% -2.6%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% -1.9%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% -8.9%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% -18.6%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 11.7x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 9
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 100.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 6.7%
- ROCE > 15% 4.7%
- Expected return > 10% 29.9%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | Dee Steven E. | Chief Technology Officer | Other | 2,038 | 17.17 | 34,992 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | Dee Steven E. | Chief Technology Officer | Other | 139 | – | – |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Chaudhary Niren | Director | Other | 7,548 | – | – |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Villagomez Adolfo | Director | Other | 1,562 | – | – |
| Aug 14, 2026 | Arlin Wendy C. | Director | Other | 8,850 | – | – |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Raymond Christie | Sr. EVP, Chief Marketing Off. | Sell | 15,000 | 20.00 | 300,000 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Kent Jennifer J. | Sr. EVP, CLO & Corp. Sec. | Sell | 22,942 | 20.00 | 458,840 |
| Jul 16, 2026 | Steinmetz Mari | Sr. EVP, Chief People Officer | Sell | 53 | 17.17 | 910 |
| Jul 15, 2026 | Steinmetz Mari | Sr. EVP, Chief People Officer | Other | 189 | 16.43 | 3,105 |
| Jul 15, 2026 | Steinmetz Mari | Sr. EVP, Chief People Officer | Other | 107 | – | – |
The company
About the Company
Kohl's Corporation operates as an omnichannel retailer in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty products, and home products through its stores and website. The company provides its products primarily under the brand names of Apt. 9, Croft & Barrow, FLX, Jumping Beans, SO, Sonoma Goods for Life, and Tek Gear, as well as LC Lauren Conrad, Nine West, and Simply Vera Vera Wang. Kohl's Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
- Employees
- 84,000
- Headquarters
- Menomonee Falls, WI
- Address
- N56 W17000 Ridgewood Drive, 53051 Menomonee Falls, United States
- Phone
- 262 703 7000
- Website
- corporate.kohls.com
- IPO Date
- 05/18/1992
- ISIN
- US5002551043
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 04/25/2000
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 04/28/1998
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 04/30/1996
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Michael J. Bender | CEO & Director | 1962 |
| Jill Timm | Chief Financial Officer | 1974 |
| Christie Raymond | Senior EVP & Chief Marketing Officer | 1970 |
| Nicholas David George Jones | Chief Merchandising Officer | 1973 |
| Steven Dee | Chief Technology Officer | 1970 |
| Trevor Novotny | Director of Investor Relations | – |
| Jennifer J. Kent | Senior EVP, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary | 1972 |
| Mari Steinmetz | Senior Executive VP & Chief People Officer | 1980 |
| Arianne Parisi | Senior Executive VP & Chief Customer Officer | – |
| Matt Ward | Executive VP of Supply Chain | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/31/2026 KOHLS Corp (KSS): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/26/2026 KOHLS Corp (KSS): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Regulation FD Disclosure; Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/25/2026 KOHLS Corp (KSS): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/18/2026 KOHLS Corp (KSS): Other Events; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/29/2026 KOHLS Corp (KSS): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.