Society
Consumer Companies From Levi to Target Brace for a Hit From Student Loan Repayments
The bills are set to worsen a squeeze on shoppers from higher prices and lower savings.
A customer at Target store in San Francisco.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
US companies are bracing for the return of federal student loan debt payments in October, conscious of how that extra bill will hit their customers’ wallets.
Retailers Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. and jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. are among firms flagging to investors they may be in line to feel the brunt of any pullback in spending. The phrase “student loan” was mentioned at least 40 times in earnings calls held during the current quarter by companies in the S&P 500, by far the most since the term first appeared in the early 2000s, Bloomberg data show.