GS Feiler Consumer Day 2 Quick takes 15 Sep 2026

GS Feiler - Consumer Day 2 Quick takes 15 Sep 2026 Scott Feiler · Goldman Sachs · Managing Director, FICC & Equities Tue 15 Sep 2026, 2:53pm ET

Day 2 of the general presentations just wound down. Here are a few quick thoughts...

1. The Consumer: The most used word by most companies was “resilient.” It was the opening comment from the biggest retailer here (WMT). It was the same form V/MA at Communicopia last week. Despite the really negative price action the last month, I do not think investors are actually super bearish the health of the consumer. It more feels investors are more bearish they can make money being long consumer. I simply am hearing much more about “relative growth vs others sectors” than ever before.

2. However, the Big Question: Most companies sounded “fine,” “good” or “resilient.” Does it matter? It hasn't yet. The issue is that this is driving a bit of a collective shoulder shrug. Why?

3. Issue #1 - The Macro: This is one of the major hold-ups. Numerous companies noted that when gas prices are above $4/gallon, the consumer retrenches. That is benefitting some of the retailers here (trade down), but with CL1 up most days lately, it’s a sentiment headwind for the group and also is a big debate about how it will impact freight/margins in 2027. Rates are clearly the 2nd macro factor on investor’s minds.

4. Issue #2 – Alternatives: In a market where ETF’s and baskets drive more of the action vs the past, sector rotations matter. I heard some version of this argument a lot this week: “Even if Company “X or X” sees their organic revenues accelerate slightly from something like +1-2% to +2-3%, why is that exciting vs other sectors (Mag7), where you can get much higher growth for cheaper? This is an argument we have heard non-stop the last 2 months, where it had really had not been a big focus before.

WMT: Both at their dinner and in their fireside chat, they reiterated the theme from the last couple days that back-to-school and back-to-college and that their late 2Q price investments (from tariff refunds) are working. The question is if this improvement is for the whole company top-line or just the categories they are leaning into with price.

DG: Consistently noted that when consumers see gas prices >$4 a gallon, they change their behavior. For now, it’s helping them gain new customers.

BBY & SN: Many companies sounded “fine” but SN & BBY are 2 of the few companies that investors argued sounded “great.” Despite that, both stocks are down 1.5-2% today, which tells you the macro is simply mattering more than the micro.

VAC: Argued pretty aggressively that higher rates just do not really impact their business and they still feel quite confident on VPG. Source: Goldman Sachs FICC & Equities, GS Consumer Conference; as of 15 September 2026.