Macy's Inc (M) Stock Price & How to Invest

Macy's, Inc. is a US retail company built around three banners: Macy's, the mid-tier department store that carries the company's name; Bloomingdale's, a higher-end luxury chain; and Bluemercury, a specialty beauty and cosmetics retailer. It sells apparel, accessories, cosmetics, home goods, and other merchandise through hundreds of stores and its e-commerce sites. Beyond retail, Macy's owns a substantial real-estate portfolio, and the value of that property has long been part of the investment debate around the stock.

The investment story in 2026 is a turnaround. CEO Tony Spring, who took the top job in early 2024, launched a multi-year plan called "A Bold New Chapter" that closes underperforming stores concentrated in weaker malls while reinvesting in a core set of roughly 350 stores. A group of around 200 "reimagined" locations, upgraded with better staffing, presentation, and product, has been outperforming the rest of the fleet. In its first quarter of fiscal 2026 (reported June 2026), Macy's posted comparable sales growth of about 3%, its strongest first-quarter comp in four years, and raised its full-year outlook, guiding to net sales of roughly $21.5 to $21.75 billion. The stock trades well off its highs and carries a dividend, making it a value-and-income name whose upside hinges on the turnaround continuing to work against a difficult backdrop for mall-anchored department stores.

The central risk is structural: department stores have lost share for years to online sellers, off-price chains, and direct-to-consumer brands, and a turnaround does not reverse that secular pressure. Macy's remains exposed to discretionary consumer spending, so a weaker economy or a cautious shopper can quickly pressure comparable sales and margins. Store closures shrink the footprint even as they improve quality, meaning total sales can decline while the reimagined base grows, which complicates the growth narrative. The plan spans multiple years and depends heavily on management execution, and any stumble in the reimagined-store rollout would undercut the thesis. Tariffs and higher input costs add margin uncertainty, and the real-estate value, while real, is not easily or quickly converted into cash for shareholders.

11 analysts publish price targets on M, averaging $22.77 against a $24.82 price as of August 2026, or -8.3%. The published targets run from $9.00 to $30.00, a wide spread, and the ratings split 2 buy, 10 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 6 raises and 4 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full M forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Macy's Inc. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Reimagined stores and the turnaround plan. The heart of the bull case is the "A Bold New Chapter" strategy: close weak stores, concentrate investment in a core group, and upgrade around 200 "reimagined" Macy's locations that have been outperforming the rest of the fleet. The most optimistic published target, $30.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. The central risk is structural: department stores have lost share for years to online sellers, off-price chains, and direct-to-consumer brands, and a turnaround does not reverse that secular pressure. The most pessimistic target, $9.00, is roughly what M is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on M, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Macy's Inc's investor relations page or your broker.

• Business model: Department-store retail across Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Bluemercury banners, plus a large owned-real-estate portfolio
• Recent results: Q1 fiscal 2026 delivered ~3% comparable sales growth, the strongest first-quarter comp in four years, with an EPS beat
• Full-year guidance: Raised outlook to net sales of roughly $21.5 to $21.75 billion for fiscal 2026
• Valuation style: Trades as a value-and-income turnaround name, well off multi-year highs
• Capital returns: Pays a dividend and repurchases shares; check the latest declared rate before assuming any payout
• Key debate: Whether the reimagined-store model can offset secular decline in mall-based department stores

Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. Macy's trades at a low earnings multiple typical of legacy retail, which can look cheap but reflects genuine doubts about long-term growth. The turnaround has shown early progress, yet the stock's re-rating depends on management proving the reimagined model works at scale, not just in a pilot group. Treat any single quarter's comp as a data point, not a trend.

If you want M exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

Other names that sit close to M: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get M exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (AVUV), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so M sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where M fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

Macy's is a turnaround bet on a legacy department-store chain, with early proof that closing weak stores and reinvesting in a reimagined core is lifting comparable sales, offset by long-term structural pressure on mall-based retail and a value that leans heavily on execution and real estate.

Whether M is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is M a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the M stock forecast.

For income investors, whether M pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does M pay a dividend? And to weigh M against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: M vs KSS and M vs DDS.