Nordstrom downgraded at Goldman Sachs as full-price same-store sales decelerate, shares tumble 8%

Goldman Sachs downgraded Nordstrom Inc. to neutral from buy as same-store sales growth on full-priced merchandise decelerates. Goldman has a $50 price target on Nordstrom stock. The downgrade follows the luxury retailer's holiday season sales announcement, which shows full-price same-store sales increased 0.3% compared with 1.9% growth for the third-quarter year-to-date. Nordstrom said full-price sales were below expectations. "Following two releases in which full-price comps have disappointed versus our expectations, we have fading confidence in the outlook for the core department store business, and see choppy gross margins as likely offsetting good news on costs as the company cycles generational investments," Goldman analysts led by Alexandra Walvis wrote in a note. The news follows disappointing results from retailers including Macy's Inc. . Nordstrom shares have sunk 8.4% in Wednesday premarket trading, and are down 24.5% over the past three months. The S&P 500 index has lost 7.1% in the last three months.

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