While the world seemingly shut down when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, grocery stores had a steadier path than the rest of the economy. On the other hand, many big box stores like Target, Costco, and Walmart, experienced a bit more volatility with higher highs, but also lower lows. Big box stores saw a 28.4% decrease in foot traffic in April 2020, but then jumped back up 28% the following month. On the other hand, grocery store foot traffic decreased only 18.

(TRN:NYSE) On Thursday July 22, 2021 Trinity Industries (TRN) posted worse-than-expected revenues of $371.3mm missing the consensus estimate of $437mm (-15%) and in the same direction as Advan’s forecasted sales. The revenue was -27% YoY - Advan’s foot traffic data captured a decrease in traffic of -9% YoY at Trinity’s factories. Advan’s footfall data has a correlation of 0.9 on a YoY basis with TRN’s top-line revenue over the last 10 quarters.

The necessarily misnamed “Euro 2020”, one of the largest soccer competitions worldwide, had to be postponed until June 2021 due to pandemic restrictions. The winner of the European Championship was Italy after beating England 3-2 in the final on penalties. Webley Stadium in London hosted the semi-finals as well as the final on 7/6, 7/7 and 7/11 respectively. We employed our international data to see whether the European sporting events are heading back to normality.

On Monday, July 19, 2021, Ice Cream brand Ben & Jerry’s announced that it will cease selling ice cream in West Bank. The announcement was followed by widespread condemnation from the Jewish community worldwide, and a stern warning from Israel’s PM to Unilever, B&J’s parent company, that there would be legal and other consequences. But what about the actual customers? How have they reacted? Looking at the recent foot traffic across all 380 Ben & Jerry’s stores that Advan Research covers, there does not seem to be a material effect on customer visits.

(DAL:NYSE) On Wednesday July 14, 2021 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) posted better-than-expected revenues of $7.13bn surpassing the consensus estimate of $6.1bn (-14.36%) and in the same direction as Advan’s forecasted sales. The revenue was +385.42% YoY - Advan’s foot traffic data captured an increase in traffic of +326.23% YoY at Terminals where Delta operates. Advan’s footfall data has a correlation of 1.0 on a YoY basis with Delta’s top-line revenue over the last 14 quarters.

Automakers have been struggling to produce cars due to the global shortage of semiconductor chips first occurred in the early months this year. Fiat/Chrysler, General Motors and Ford and other big names in the industry announced they would reduce the pace of production to tackle this challenge. It did not take long and the impact of the idled factories is now reflected on the sales. Using employee counts are often times the right metric produced by our data to analyze industrial companies.

(BSET:NASDAQ) On Thursday July 1, 2021 Bassett Furniture Industries, Incorporated (BSET) posted better-than-expected revenues of $124.06mm surpassing the consensus estimate of $93.86mm (-24.34%) and in the same direction as Advan’s forecasted sales. The revenue was +94.45% YoY - Advan’s foot traffic data captured an increase in traffic of +80.13% YoY. The stock closed at $26.95, +10% from its previous day’s closing price. Advan’s footfall data has over 0.93 correlation on a YoY basis with Bassett’s top-line revenue over the last 10 quarters.

As theaters have started opening back up to the public, the blockbuster movie season is slowly making its way back into audience’s summer traditions. After a year of closures, many wondered if theaters would be able to recover, especially with the recent popularity of streaming services and home premieres. The latest foot traffic data compiled by Advan Research suggests that the blockbuster movie season is back and is possibly on track to reach the heights of past years.

Notable Hit 1: (GIS:NYSE) On Wednesday June 30, 2021 General Mills, Inc. (GIS) posted better-than-expected revenues of $4.52bn surpassing the consensus estimate of $4.34bn (-3.95%) and in the same direction as Advan’s forecasted sales. The revenue was -9.94% YoY - Advan’s foot traffic data captured a decrease in traffic at its factories of -12.19% YoY. Advan’s footfall data has** 0.9 correlation on a YoY basis** with General Mills’ top-line revenue over the last 10 quarters.

While many U.S. residents feared public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic, many started to shop around for a car resulting in driving the demand up, fact that led to a price hike as high as 30%. On the other side, rental car companies sold a big chunk of their fleet in exchange for cash liquidity as the demand for car rentals dropped 70%-80% especially in the early months of this turbulence.