20
THE CATO CORPORATION
ITEM 2.
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL
CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:
The following
information should
be read
along with
the unaudited
Condensed Consolidated
Financial
Statements, including the accompanying Notes
appearing in this report. Any
of the following are
“forward-looking” statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933,
as
amended, and
Section 21E of
the Securities
Exchange Act
of 1934,
as amended:
(1) statements in
this
Form 10-Q
that reflect
projections or
expectations of
our future
financial or
economic performance;
(2) statements that
are not
historical information;
(3) statements of
our be
liefs, intentions,
plans and
objectives for future operations, including those
contained in “Management’s Discussion
and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results
of Operations”; (4) statements relating
to our operations or
activities for
our fiscal
year ending January
29, 2022 (“fiscal 2021”) and beyond, including,
but not limited
to,
statements regarding expected
amounts of capital
expenditures and store
openings, relocations, remodels
and closures
and statements
regarding the
potential impact
of the
COVID-19 pandemic
and related
responses and mitigation efforts
on our business, results of operations and financial
condition; and
(5) statements relating to our future contingencies. When possible, we have attempted to identify forward-
looking statements by
using words such
as “will,” “expects,”
“anticipates,” “approximates,” “believes,”
“estimates,” “hopes,” “intends,” “may,”
“plans,” “could,” “would,” “should” and
any variations or
negative formations of
such words and
similar expressions. We
can give no
assurance that actual
results
or events will not
differ materially from those
expressed or implied in any
such forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements included in this report are based on information available to us as
of the filing
date of this
report, but subject
to known and
unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors
that could
cause actual
results to
differ materially
from those
contemplated by
the forward
-looking
statements.
Such factors include,
but are not
limited to, the
following:
any actual or
perceived
deterioration in the conditions that drive consumer confidence and spending, including, but not limited to,
prevailing social,
economic, political
and public
health conditions
and uncertainties,
levels of
unemployment, fuel, energy
and food costs,
wage rates, tax
rates, interest rates,
home values, consumer
net worth and
the availability of
credit; changes in
laws or regulations
affecting our
business, including
but not
limited to
tariffs;
uncertainties regarding
the impact
of any
governmental action
regarding, or
responses to,
the foregoing
conditions; competitive
factors and
pricing pressures;
our ability
to predict
and respond to rapidly changing fashion trends and consumer demands; our ability to successfully
implement our new store development strategy to increase new store openings and our ability of
any such
new stores to
grow and perform
as expected; adverse weather, public health threats (including
the
COVID-19 pandemic) or similar conditions that may affect
our sales or operations; inventory risks due to
shifts in
market demand, including
the ability
to liquidate
excess inventory at
anticipated margins;
and
other factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item
1A of our annual report on Form 10-
K
for the
fiscal year ended January 30,
2021 (“fiscal 2020”), as amended
or supplemented, and in other
reports we
file with or
furnish to the
Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”) from
time to time.
We do
not
undertake, and expressly
decline, any obligation
to update
any such forward-
looking information
contained in this report, whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise.