Macy’s Inc. handily beat Wall Street’s forecasts in the most recent quarter and raised its guidance for the rest of the fiscal year, showing that consumers are still spending despite their economic concerns.
The retailer boosted its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings per share to as much as $2.20. In September, it had guided for that figure to be as much as $2.05.
“Our third quarter sales were the strongest in 13 quarters,” Macy’s chief executive officer Tony Spring said in a statement. “As we enter the holiday season, we are well-positioned.”
The stronger sales resulted in better-than-expected profit in the most recent quarter, with tariff mitigation efforts and cost cutting also contributing.
Macy’s stock rose about 1 percent in premarket trading on Wednesday. The shares had gained 34 percent this year through Tuesday’s close.
The results are likely to increase Wall Street’s support for Spring’s turnaround strategy. Since he took the top job in 2024, he has focused on investing in the Macy’s stores he thinks have the greatest potential to sell more by increasing staffing and marketing as well as updating displays.
Macy’s guidance for the rest of the fiscal year show that executives expect consumers to maintain some of the spending momentum they’ve shown during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events.
The largest department-store chain in the US raised its outlook for net sales to a range of $21.5 billion to $21.6 billion, higher than its prior guidance.
The New York-based company said net sales at its Bloomingdale’s chain rose sharply in the most recent quarter from a year earlier. Bluemercury’s net sales were also up.
Some on Wall Street had lifted their forecasts for Macy’s after retailer Kohl’s Corp. raised its full-year outlook at the end of November. Best Buy Co. and Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. also boosted their guidance late last month, which provided more signs that US shoppers are still willing to spend at retailers that sell what they want at the right price.
Spring still faces challenges to recover Macy’s former glory. The department store has lost more than one-quarter of its market share since 2012 to off-price retailers, brands themselves and Amazon, UBS analysts led by Jay Sole wrote in a Dec. 1 research note. The company has said it will close about 150 underperforming locations through 2026.
Still, there are signs Macy’s is gaining momentum. Bloomingdale’s in particular is a standout, gaining share from Saks Global, where sales are falling by double digits, note Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mary Ross Gilbert and Poonam Goyal. And the makeover of Macy’s is showing progress.
“Our checks show Macy’s women’s apparel offering and merchandising has improved in stores — especially revitalised ones — and online.”
By Jeannette Neumann
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