Macy's swings to a second quarter profit, but sales surprisingly weak as customers grow cautious
Macy’s swung back to a profit in its second quarter but suffered yet another sales decline as inflationary weary shoppers rein in spending, with their focus increasingly on buying the essentials
NEW YORK — Macy's swung back to a profit in its second quarter but suffered yet another sales decline as inflationary weary shoppers rein in spending, with their focus increasingly on buying the essentials.
The company, which also operates upscale Bloomingdale's stores and cosmetics chain Bluemercury, cut its annual sales forecast given what it called “a more discriminating consumer" and the need to roll out more sales to entice them.
The company reported a profit of $150 million, or 53 cents per share, in the three-months ended Aug. 3, topping Wall Street expectations for per-share earnings of 30 cents, according to a survey by FactSet. It's also a rebound from the loss of $22 million, or 8 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
Yet sales fell nearly 4% to $4.94 billion, from $5.13 billion last year, and below the $5.06 billion that industry analysts were looking for.
Shares slumped 8% before the opening bell Wednesday.
Comparable sales— those from online channels and from established stores — fell 3.3%, including those from licensed businesses like cosmetics and its third-party marketplace. That was worse than the 0.3% drop in the previous quarter.
Macy’s stores had a 3.6% comparable sales drop, while Bloomingdale’s had a 1.4% decline. Same-store sales at Bluemercury rose 2%.
Macy’s has begun to attract potential buyers of the storied chain, but it cut off monthslong buyout talks with two investment firms a month ago, saying the bid was inadequate and the financing was not certain.
Macy’s said the bidders,
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