Macy's Inc. on May 16 raised its earnings forecasts for fiscal year 2018 as it reported results for the first quarter that exceeded analysts' expectations.
The department store operator now expects adjusted earnings per diluted share in the range of $3.75 to $3.95 for full-year 2018, up from the previous guidance range of $3.55 to $3.75.
It also projects total sales to be in the range from a 1% decline to a 0.5% increase, compared to a previous sales outlook of a 0.5% to 2% decline. Comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis are expected to increase between 1% and 2%.
The Ohio-based company's first-quarter adjusted EPS came in at 48 cents, beating the S&P Capital IQ mean consensus estimate for normalized EPS of 35 cents.
Net income for the first quarter went up to $149 million compared to $80 million in the comparable period a year ago, while net sales grew 3.6% to $5.541 billion from $5.35 billion last year. Comparable sales also rose by 3.9% on an owned basis and by 4.2% on an owned plus licensed basis.
Macy's disclosed in its earnings report that it came to a mutual agreement to end its joint venture with Fung Retailing Ltd. in China, which was formed in 2015. The company said it will remain active on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s e-commerce platform TMall.
The retailer's e-commerce team in San Francisco will manage the ongoing business in China, with operational support from Fung Omni in Shanghai, according to the release.
