The top 25 global retailers by market capitalization (MCap) reported a $382 billion loss in their cumulative MCap in Q1 2022, says GlobalData. According to the leading data and analytics company, Amazon, Alibaba, Home Depot, NIKE, Lowe’s and Inditex were the six companies that each reported a loss of over $25 billion in their valuation.

Concerns related to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to battle the increasing inflationary pressure put a dampener on the stock market in the first month of 2022. Retailers such as Amazon, Home Depot, NIKE, and Lowe’s were hit the hardest as they all operate in the consumer discretionary section and are more susceptible to economic cycles.

Keshav Kumar Jha, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Their businesses tend to be vulnerable to increasing inflation, as it could jeopardize the consumption recovery that began to improve following the pandemic in 2020. Companies have been impacted by the recent geopolitical tensions due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which has caused oil and energy prices to soar, adding to the already increasing inflationary pressure.”

Home Depot was the only retailer among the top 25 that lost over $100 billion in valuation in Q1 2022. Investors appeared to lose confidence in the company’s stock following the modest guidance for FY2022.

Meanwhile, there appears to be no end in sight to the Chinese government’s regulatory crackdown on organizations. The evolving regulatory environment in light of the concerns related to the implementation of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA) is influencing the decisions of investors regarding investing in these stocks, which has caused problems for Chinese online retailers including Alibaba, Pinduoduo and JD.com.

The food retailers, Seven & i and Kroger, were the two companies that clocked over 20% growth in their MCap. Seven & i’s impressive quarterly performance, alongside increasing investment in digitalization and its focus on the sustainable growth of its franchise, helped the company retain investors’ interest in its stock.

Investors flocked to Kroger’s stocks buoyed by its impressive performance in Q4, FY2021 and its focus on digital acceleration to manage supply-chain challenges.