Economics
Americans Surprise Wall Street With Spending Boom During Coronavirus
- Target, Amazon, Lowe’s all handily beat quarterly forecasts
- Money saved on travel and entertainment funneled into retail
A huge swath of Americans surprised retailers, manufacturers and analysts by spending at record levels at chains like Target, Walmart and Lowe’s.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The American consumer is proving more resilient than predicted.
Conventional wisdom, which initially assumed many U.S. shoppers would save their paychecks and stimulus funds until the pandemic subsided, has proved unfounded. The largest American retailers all reported sales in the latest quarter that blew away expectations.