The risk of owning Kohl’s Corp. debt is climbing the most of any U.S. department store chain as the company embarks on $3.5 billion of stock buybacks after failing to meet its sales targets during the holiday season.
Credit-default swaps linked to Kohl’s have surged 96 basis points since Nov. 28, making obligations of the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based firm the riskiest ever relative to Macy’s Inc. and Target Corp. Kohl’s cut its fourth-quarter earnings expectations on Jan. 3 after selling products at deeper discounts than planned in December.
