Kohl’s Corporation (KSS - Analyst Report) is a U.S. based department store chain that operates specialty department stores and an e-commerce site in the U.S. The department store appeals to middle-class consumers as it sells discounted branded and private label clothing and home goods.

Like most of the retailers, Kohl’s has struggled hard in the past one year, owing to a challenging retail/sales environment in the U.S. However, Kohl’s continuous efforts to improve its business coupled with its strategic initiative "the Greatness Agenda" is expected to improve sales of the company. Further, the recovery in macro-economic environment and reducing fuel prices might also increase consumer spending power, which in turn will boost traffic at the stores. Due to this, investors are eagerly awaiting Kohl’s earnings report.

Investors should also note the recent earnings estimate revisions for KSS, as the consensus estimate has been climbing higher. KSS has a mixed history in earnings season. KSS has delivered positive surprise in two of the last four quarters, with negative surprise in the other two, making for an average surprise of negative 0.96%.

Currently, KSS has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), but that could definitely change following Kohl’s’ earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:

Earnings: KSS posted earnings of 63 cents per share, better than our consensus of 57 cents per share. Investors should note that these figures take out stock option expenses.

Revenue: KSS posted revenues of $4.123 billion, missing our consensus estimate of $4.182 billion.

Key Stats to Note: Kohl’s’ comparable store sales increased 1.4%, compared with a decline of 3.4% in the prior-year period. This was driven by both transactions per store and average transaction value.

Stock Price: Shares declined more than 5% in pre-market trading.