H&M’s Fourth-Quarter Profit Surge Signals a Leaner Retailer, but Growth Risks Remain
In the high-stakes, fast-moving world of global retail, H&M has long been cast as a sleeping giant – weighed down by bloated inventories, slow reactions to trends, and relentless pressure from Inditex’s Zara and ultra-fast-fashion disruptors like Shein. But H&M’s latest fourth-quarter results suggest the Swedish retailer is no longer sleepwalking. Instead, it is slimming…