Shoppers walk through Macy’s in New York on Black Friday in 2020.
Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images
Macy’s reported a surprise profit and raised its financial forecasts for the year—news that Wall Street welcomed with a 6% jump in the stock price.
Macy’s (ticker: M) saw profits of $103 million, or $0.32 a share, in the quarter ending May 1—a reversal from a loss of $11.56 a share a year earlier, when stores were forced to shut down due to the pandemic. Wall Street was expecting that the department-store chain would post a loss of $0.39 a share.
Revenue hit $4.7 billion—topping the $4.4 billion expected by Wall Street and screaming past sales of $3 billion in the year ago quarter. Comparable sales were up 62.5% as stores have reopened. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a 44.9% jump in comparable sales, though the chain still has some work ahead of it as comparable sales remain down 10% from pre-pandemic levels.
“As consumers seek to re-engage with each other, we are seeing promising signs that our core customers are shopping again, and we continue to attract new customers, who increasingly begin their shopping experience with us online,” Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive at Macy’s, said in a statement. He noted that the company is seeing increased sales in special-occasion categories as households venture out.
With consumers ready and able to spend, thanks to the rollout of vaccines and government economic-stimulus checks, Macy’s raised its forecasts for the year.
“Our achievements in the first quarter, combined with the faster than anticipated economic recovery, give us the confidence to update our full-year 2021 guidance,” said Adrian Mitchell, chief financial officer.
Macy’s now expects to see earnings per share come in between $1.71 and $2.12, ahead of previous projections in the range of $0.40 and $0.90 per share. Sales are expected to fall between $21.73 billion and $22.23 billion, topping previous guidance in the range of $19.75 billion and $20.75 billion.
Write to Carleton English at [email protected]
