Pier 1 ($PIR) has an earnings call very soon, and the dreaded "retail apocalypse" that has affected Forever 21, American Eagle, Kate Spade, Lululemon, Chico's, and more could rear its ugly head once again.

Analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research are seeking EPS -$15.88 when Pier 1 Imports reports earnings. The market appears to have taken a negative stance; and the stock is already down more than 10% in early trading Wednesday September 25. 

Discounts

Let's take a look at some eyebrow-raising trends here.

From November to December 2018 discounts on average doubled. They rose from 12% in March to 22% in May of this year, and hit recent highs in July at 25%. Is the pressure on to sell more inventory? We'll get to that in a moment, but the discounts are great for customers, and not so great for shareholders.

 

We can see a similar jump in March from 9,000 items discounted to a high of 27,000 in May. 

Stores

Next up; we've got Pier One's total store count, and it reflects what the news is saying, store closings are imminent and will happen this year.

Social media

That's only a signifier of things to come. When you're actively losing Twitter followers, that means people see your tweets and do not care enough to follow you anymore. That's a big deal, to us, that the brand isn't strong enough or engaging enough to make people want to keep following for the discounts you're trying to get out.

About the Data: 

Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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