有些時候把預期定得低一些是對的。

上周四西爾斯公司發(fā)布了其第三季度財報，財報顯示，由于其旗下Sears和Kmart兩個品牌賣場的銷售額持續(xù)下跌，西爾斯的當季虧損達到5.58億美元。不過這一虧損額還是略低于去年同期，因此它至少說明雖然西爾斯的核心業(yè)務依然一蹶不振，但是至少它在削減成本上做得還是卓有成效的。西爾斯的股價雖然回彈了5個百分點，但是比起近52周的最高位還是下跌了70%。

西爾斯控股旗下的Sears和Kmart兩個品牌賣場的可比銷售額分別下跌了17%和13%，這個成績還是比較令人驚訝的，畢竟去年西爾斯控股已經將不少業(yè)績疲軟的賣場剝離了出去。這個成績比起科爾百貨、塔吉特百貨、J.C.Penney、梅西百貨等競爭對手可謂凄慘。雖然梅西百貨等零售業(yè)巨頭也都面臨著種種挑戰(zhàn)，但沒有一家主流競爭對手混到了西爾斯控股這般悲慘的田地——它的可比銷售額已經連續(xù)下降24個季度了。

西爾斯此次發(fā)布的財報也無益于解決外界對其長期生存能力的擔憂。西爾斯控股在自己的2016年年報中也坦承過這個問題。過去六年，西爾斯的虧損已經超過了100億美元，給公司的財務造成了極大的負擔，公司近年來也不得不忍痛售出了一些最優(yōu)質的資產。

GlobalData Retail公司的執(zhí)行董事尼爾·桑德斯本周四在一篇研究文章中指出：“最終，我們仍然認為，西爾斯是一家即將死去的公司。不管你怎么切割它，其業(yè)務的經濟基本面就是疊加不起來。”他指出，西爾斯在亞馬遜上銷售其Kenmore家電品牌是明智之舉，不過僅靠這些做法還不足以讓公司起死回生。

即便情勢惡化至此，西爾斯的董事長兼CEO艾迪·蘭伯特（他也就是那位主導了2005年西爾斯與Kmart合并的對沖基金經理）依然堅稱，公司簡化業(yè)務、削減庫存和降低運營開支的努力是“成功”的。

西爾斯在削減債務上的確取得了一些進步。財報顯示，今年三季度，公司通過銷售不動產和其他資產拿到了2.7億美元融資，三季度結束后，西爾斯又拿到了另外1.67億美元資本。通過這兩筆錢，截止到三季度結束時，公司負擔的長期債務已經從上季度的24.1億美元縮減到了20.3億美元。（財富中文網）

譯者：賈政景

Sometimes it pays to set expectations low.

Sears Holdings (SHLD, -3.56%) on Thursday reported a loss of $558 million for its third fiscal quarter, felled by the continuing collapse in sales at its established Sears and Kmart stores. But because it was a smaller loss than a year earlier, showing the shrinking retailer is at least cutting costs efficiently as its core business dwindles, shares went up 5% though they remain down 70% from their 52-week highs.

Comparable sales fell 17% at Sears and 13% at Kmart, a striking result given that they exclude the dozens of weak stores the company has culled in the last year. The results are catastrophic compared to those of rivals like Kohl’s (KSS, +0.52%), Target (TGT, -2.89%), J.C. Penney (JCP, -6.21%), and Macy’s (M, -0.75%), each facing challenges but none in nearly as poor condition as the once iconic Sears. It was the 24th quarter of comparable sales declines in a row for the company.

And the results did nothing to ease concerns about Sears’ longer term viability, something the company acknowledged earlier this year in its 2016 annual report. The company has lost more than $10 billion in the last six years, putting enormous stress on its finances and leading it to sell some of its best assets in recent years.

“Ultimately, we still believe that Sears is a dying business. Whichever way you cut them, the fundamental economics of the business do not add up,” Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData Retail, wrote in a research note on Thursday. He praised moves like Sears selling its Kenmore appliances on Amazon.com (AMZN, +1.18%), but said such efforts were insufficient to move the needle.

That didn’t stop Chairman and Chief Executive Eddie Lampert, the hedge fund manager who engineered the merger of Sears and Kmart in 2005, from claiming to see “success” in the company’s efforts to downsize itself by streamlining operations, reducing inventory, and minimizing operating expenses.

Sears did make progress in lowering its debt: it said it had raised more than $270 million from sales of real estate and other assets in the third quarter, as well as an another $167 million after the close of the quarter. It used the proceeds to bring long-term debt and obligations down to $2.03 billion at the end of the quarter from $2.41 billion three months earlier.