Macy's to be removed from S&P 500; credit rating downgraded

Its market value just a fraction of what it was five years ago, Macy's is being removed from the S&P 500 index.

Macy's has been struggling amid competition from discounters and online retailers like Amazon. S&P Dow Jones Global Indices said Tuesday that Macy's will be removed from the benchmark S&P 500 and shifted to the S&P SmallCap 600 as of Monday. The retailer is being replaced on the larger index by Carrier Global, which makes refrigeration and fire and security products.

At the start of 2015, Macy's had a stock market value of around $23 billion. In midday trading Wednesday, shares traded at $4.68, giving Macy's a market cap of about $1.45 billion. The stock has lost more than 70% of its value so far in 2020 as the virus pandemic shuts down stores and all but halts sales for many retailers. The New York company announced this week it would furlough the majority of its 125,000 employees.

Separately, Fitch ratings downgraded Macy's credit rating to so-called junk status, meaning the company is at an elevated risk of defaulting on its debts.

Fitch said the downgrade reflects the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak on discretionary spending, which Fitch says could continue into 2021. Fitch does say it believe Macy's has enough cash on hand and available credit to weather the downturn.