Macy’s reported a decrease in sales and profit in the first quarter, primarily attributing it to more cautious customers and concerns about the impact of the U.S. trade war, leading the company to cut its profit forecast for 2025.
However, despite the decrease in profit, Macy’s exceeded most performance expectations for the first three months of the year and maintained its sales forecast for the year, resulting in shares rising by over 4% before the market opened.
The big picture: Sales dropped to $4.79 billion from $5 billion a year earlier, which was better than analyst expectations of $4.42 billion, while comparable sales, including online channels, dipped 2%, with Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury witnessing comparable sales growth.
- Macy’s earnings for the period ended May 3 amounted to $38 million, or 13 cents per share, compared to $62 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding certain items, earnings were 16 cents per share, surpassing Wall Street’s estimate by a penny.
- The company still anticipates 2025 sales in a range of $21 billion to $21.4 billion but has adjusted full-year earnings to between $1.60 and $2 per share, down from the previous forecast of $2.05 to $2.25 per share, while industry analysts projected full-year sales of $21.03 billion and an adjusted per-share profit of $1.91.
