Jim Cramer Questions TJX After Marmaxx Stumbles

Jim Cramer Questions TJX After Marmaxx Stumbles

Syeda Seirut Javed

Tue, September 15, 2026 at 6:00 PM GMT+3 4 min read

• TJX -0.81%

Jim Cramer raised concerns about The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) during the September 10 episode of Mad Money, as he said:

We had our CNBC Investing Club meeting today… I review each of the Charitable Trust positions on the call. This time, it was pretty clinical until I got to TJX, the off-price retailer. Candidly, I lost it on TJX. I've owned the stock for the Trust for as long as I can remember, and I've never felt so worried about this franchise. They have a bunch of divisions, but the biggest one, Marmaxx, consisting of TJ Maxx and Marshalls, really blew it. Management told us that they had figured out what had gone wrong and they've already fixed it, but because of competitive reasons or whatever, they wouldn't tell us what went wrong and they wouldn't tell us how they fixed it. I found that infuriating…

I came close to saying, forget it, Jim, it's retail. Sometimes retail is seductive. I love my local TJ Maxx, and I think Home Goods is a fun place to shop. The company's almost always about the best in the industry, crushing Burlington and Ross Stores. But this time, shockingly, Ross Stores upside surprised. It crushed TJX, much better than expected... So why bother sticking your neck out for something in this group? Simple. Because some of the greatest stories of all time have come from retail. Costco's been an incredible long-term performer. Walmart's been terrific. And TJX, it's been a wonder, one of the best stocks ever.

Could they really suddenly have lost it? Did they go all LULU? I don't think so. What happens, though, is you have to be conscious that TJX is right now being buffeted by its group, which is trading down because of the decline in discretionary income from the tax that is higher gasoline. We can't tell how much of its underperformance comes from that alone or maybe the mistakes that management made and says they've corrected. In other words, these retail stocks are very hard to own, even as they seem so easy to grasp.

Marmaxx Sales Slow as TJX Addresses Merchandise Mix

TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 sales of $15.18 billion, up 5% year over year, while consolidated comparable sales increased 4%. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 11% to $1.22, and the company raised its full-year diluted EPS outlook to $5.31-$5.36, or $5.15-$5.20 excluding an expected $0.16 net benefit from tariff refunds. The weakness was concentrated in Marmaxx, which includes TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Sierra. Comparable sales increased just 1%, down from 6% in the first quarter, while HomeGoods, TJX Canada and TJX International each posted comparable-sales growth of 6% or more.

CEO Ernie Herrman said Marmaxx could have executed its store mix better, meaning the company needed to have the right goods in the right stores at the right time. He said TJX was convinced the problems were self-inflicted and within its control and that the company had made progress addressing them.

What Could Keep Pressure on TJX Stock

Among concerns surrounding the company is that the Marmaxx problem proves less temporary than management expects. TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) has identified the issue as store-mix execution and says it is within the company's control, but management has not disclosed the specific merchandise categories involved. The broader consumer environment adds another risk. Cramer's comparison with Ross makes it harder to attribute all of TJX's weakness to the broader retail environment. Ross delivered a 10% comparable-sales increase in its latest quarter, compared with just 1% at Marmaxx. If Marmaxx does not recover as management expects, TJX could face a longer period of slower comparable-sales growth. The risk is relevant because Marmaxx is TJX's largest division.

Hedge Fund Sentiment and Short Interest

According to Insider Monkey, which tracks more than 1,000 hedge funds, 80 funds held TJX in the second quarter, down from 83 in the first quarter. Of those funds, Arrowstreet Capital was the biggest shareholder and increased its position by 16% to nearly 8.4 million shares. As for short interest, it stood at roughly 2% of the public float. The investment debate now centers on whether Marmaxx can recover by the holiday season, as management expects, especially after Ross delivered much stronger recent comparable-sales growth. Cramer remains reluctant to abandon TJX Companies, Inc.'s (NYSE:TJX) long-term record, but the latest performance gives investors reason to demand evidence that the merchandising problems have been corrected.

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