Last week, Bloomberg reported that emails exchanged by Wal-Martexecutives suggested that February sales so far were a "total disaster." Blaming the recent payroll tax hike, among other things, at least one exec reportedly wrote that this was the "worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company."
A spokesperson for Bloomberg said that the emails "lack the proper context."
Regardless, anything short of an outright denial could be a troubling sign for the U.S. consumer, Wal-Mart's business, and furthermore the businesses of Wal-Mart's suppliers.
The International Securities Exchange offers an index that consists of 30 major suppliers that are heavily exposed to Wal-Mart.
We pulled 18 big publicly-traded companies that get at least 20 percent of their revenue from Wal-Mart.
These are the companies that are probably most worried about the content of those leaked emails.
Helen of Troy
Annual Sales To Walmart:
$236.3 million
Percent of Helen of Troy's Sales:
20.00 percent
Percent of Walmart's Costs:
0.07 percent
Products: Helen of Troy designs and distributes consumer products across three main segments: personal care, housewares, and health care. Goods sold include appliances, hair dryers, a skin care line, combs, and other accessories. Helen of Troy also owns the OXO brand name.
Source: Helen of Troy 2012 Annual Filing
Hasbro Inc.
Annual Sales To Walmart:
$857.1 million
Percent of Hasbro's Sales:
20.00 percent
Percent of Walmart's Costs:
0.26 percent
Products: Hasbro sells children and family leisure products. Brands under the Hasbro name include Transformers, G.I. Joe, Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, and Nerf among others.
Source: Hasbro 2011 Annual Filing
Jarden Corp.
Annual Sales To Walmart:
$1.34 billion
Percent of Jarden's Sales:
20.00 percent
Percent of Walmart's Costs:
0.40 percent
Products: Jarden sells a variety of outdoor and indoor goods. Its outdoor solutions segment sells air beds, camping stoves, coolers, gas grills, lanterns, and sleeping bags. Jarden's consumer focused group sells Mr. Coffee coffee products, as well as indoor heaters, toasters, irons, and fans.
Source: Jarden 2011 Annual Filing
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