NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- A day after Macy's (M) reported its disappointing third quarter earnings results, Kohl's (KSS) - Get Reportreported 2015 third quarter financial results before this morning's open that beat expectations for both revenue and earnings.

One possible reason for the contrast in the two retailers' earnings is that Macy's, unlike Kohl's, has a flagship store that is exposed to fewer tourists visiting due to the strong dollar, TheStreet's Jim Cramer noted on CNBC's Squawk on the Street this morning.

However, although some people will likely argue that Kohl's performance demonstrates Macy's is more of an outlier. Cramer doesn't agree.

"I think Kohls has been a serial underperformer," he said.

Just as Best Buy (BBY) was once viewed as a showroom for Apple (AAPL), Cramer thinks that there is a consensus forming that Macy's is now merely a showroom for Amazon.com (AMZN).

Even so, Kohl's 1% same-store sales growth this quarter, which met expectations, previously would have been met with "Wow, that's pathetic," Cramer said.

Cramer thinks the lowered expectations for companies have likely contributed to Viacom's (VIAB) stock performance this morning.

Shares of the entertainment company are climbing, despite its revenue miss and 7% decline in domestic advertising revenue for the 2015 fourth quarter, reported before the market open. Adjusted earnings missed expectations by 1 cent.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates KOHL'S CORP as a Hold with a ratings score of C+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate KOHL'S CORP (KSS) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels and largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, weak operating cash flow and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: KSS

Image placeholder title

KSS

data by

YCharts

Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.