Andrew Cox and Seth Holm attempted to answer UBS analysts Tom Wadewits and Alex Johnson’s question, “Can the market get any better?” on this episode of Great Quarter, Guys. They talked about the retail shift from wholesale to direct-to-consumer business models and the impacts of truckload stock downgrades.
First up on “you care or nah?”, Adidas is aiming at being 50% direct to consumer by 2025, trying to catch up to Nike and Lululemon as leading athletic wear brands. Both Cox and Holm care and think this is a big goal, but there is not a lot standing in the way of brands stepping away from wholesaling.
Walmart has recruited the help of fashion designer Brandon Maxwell to design its elevated fashion line, and Cox cares because he said it’s Walmart’s attempt to beef up in-house brand sales. Holm said this move is strategic and trying to mirror Target’s success in “selling good, cheap clothing.”
Talking about the UBS analytics, Cox said the report revealed Johnson and Wadewits think truckload stocks may be hitting peaks without much more room for improvement. The report forecast truck stocks will peak in May alongside truck orders, after hitting rock bottom a year ago.
Both Cox and Holm said the trucking market is still staying strong, despite earlier predictions of it faltering in early to mid-2021 as vaccines roll out and service spending increases. They agreed the second half of 2021 and even the start of 2022 could be the timeline for a market slowdown.
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