Michigan-based Steelcase has been manufacturing office furniture since 1912. The company now has just shy of 19,000 employees and sells its furniture in 15 countries. The company, like others that service the office industry, has seen its value plummet since the pandemic. During its last earning report, it reported stronger than expected earnings and revised its guidance up nearly 25 percent. This sent the stock price up and alerted many to what could be the early signs of a return to the office.
There has been so much said and written about how the return to the office will likely never happen that stories like these stand out. But, unlike pundits who are biased by their own opinions, Steelcase has an inside view into what is really going on in the office world. Sure, an office furniture manufacturer has plenty of reasons to root for an office return, but setting forth guidance on stock price is literally putting their money where their mouth is. For a company as big as Steelcase to make an announcement like this, you can be sure that they have some evidence to back it up, be it orders in the pipeline or just customer sentiment, so when it comes to deciding who to believe, I know who I choose.