A bevy of retailers and consumer companies now meet the requirements for loans from the Federal Reserve's Main Street Lending Program, thanks to revised thresholds for revenue and employee count, according to an analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Dozens of companies were too large to qualify for the program under the previous thresholds but are now eligible for the coronavirus response measure. The companies include eBay Inc., Tiffany & Co., American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Urban Outfitters Inc., Rent-A-Center Inc. Five Below Inc., Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. and Texas Roadhouse Inc. Retailers that were eligible under the previous, higher thresholds include Chico's FAS Inc. and Fossil Group Inc.

Under the Main Street Lending Program, banks will be able to make $600 billion in loans to companies with up to 15,000 employees or $5 billion in 2019 revenue. The central bank had previously set the maximums at 10,000 employees and $2.5 billion. Companies will be able to draw up to $200 million on existing term loans and credit facilities, or $25 million in new loans. But it is ultimately down to individual lenders to determine which retailers get loans and in what amount.

Applicants for the loans capped at $200 million will also need to show that the loan will not raise their debt, including both outstanding debt and any undrawn credit, to more than six times EBITDA. The Fed announced the higher thresholds April 30, and Chairman Jerome Powell said May 13 that the program will be operational in a few weeks.

The Main Street program stands to provide support for retailers between now and the holiday shopping season, said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst with Edward Jones. "It's good for companies that were solid coming into this" but are currently burning through their cash reserves to survive, he said. Many physical stores deemed non-essential by state and local governments have been shuttered since March, with some retailers and restaurants reopening in some regions of the country so far in May.

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The new cutoffs for the Fed's program came after the National Retail Federation said in April that the old requirements left out hundreds of retailers, including many below investment grade. The trade group had also asked the Fed and the U.S. Treasury to exclude undrawn credit from the program's EBITDA calculation, but the Fed ultimately declined to do so.

Retailers that are at risk of bankruptcy or have petitioned for it recently won't get a lifeline, Matthew Kulkin, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson, said in an interview. Borrowers have to certify that they can meet their financial obligations over the next 90 days to be eligible, according to the Fed's term sheet for the program.

For companies in better financial health, the loans would come during a critical period. Since closing stores in March, many consumer names have tapped their existing credit facilities as revenues have plunged. Consumer discretionary companies collectively drew the most debt among all sectors in March and April despite a recent slowdown in borrowing.

Companies looking to raise money can also turn to corporate bond markets as well as two corporate credit facilities managed by the Fed, which are charged with purchasing bonds from investment-grade issuers and those who met that criteria before the pandemic hit. The central bank has not announced a start date for the bond purchases.

Determining how a company's financial health and borrowing needs might evolve over the next three months — and how much the Main Street loans could help retailers — will likely prove challenging given coronavirus's spread. The loans could be a key bridge for companies if shoppers return to stores over summer and retail sales start growing again by October, Yarbrough said. A spike in coronavirus cases and new shutdowns, meanwhile, would necessitate more support for retailers, he added.

The goal of the Fed's program is to "provide funding to American companies with American employees," Kulkin said. Yet some foreign-owned businesses with significant operations in the U.S. could be eligible for a loan, depending on the structure of the company and how much control the foreign owners have, he said. And unlike the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, recipients will not be obligated to avoid layoffs if they take the loan.

Unlike the PPP, the Main Street loans will not be forgivable. But the repayment terms, including a deferral of any repayment during the first year, 70% of the total due in the fourth year and a low interest rate, are appealing to companies eager to renegotiate their lines of credit and related terms, Kulkin said. "That may be the commercially appealing part of the program," he said.