There are still a lot of companies that are reporting quarterly earnings and, in many cases, the numbers are pretty decent. Let’s look at some of the winners.
The iconic jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. (NYSE/TIF) reported outstanding quarterly earnings growth of 50% due to significant sales strength and margin expansion from the Asia-Pacific region. The company’s American stores saw total sales grow four percent to $417 million, with European sales growing a surprising seven percent to $104 million.
Tiffany & Co. boosted its full-year earnings outlook for its fiscal year ending January 31, 2014, and the stock jumped seven points on the news, closing at a new all-time record high.
Much smaller Movado Group, Inc. (NYSE/MOV), which is based in Paramus, New Jersey, reported an 18.4% increase in third-quarter sales to $189.7 million.
The company’s quarter earnings fell comparatively due to a tax provision, but income before taxes grew to $34.0 million from $25.0 million in the same quarter last year.
Movado beat Wall Street consensus and tightened its guidance to the high end of its previous outlook.
Higher-end retailers like Tiffany & Co. aren’t representative of a general trend, but La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE/LZB) recently shot way up on the stock market after reporting that consolidated sales grew 14% to $366 million in its most recent quarter.
Earnings for the quarter more than doubled. The company boosted its quarterly dividend by a whopping 50% and the stock soared on the news.
Even The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE/TJX), which consists of “T.J. Maxx,” “Marshalls,” “HomeGoods,” “Sierra Trading Post,” “HomeSense,” and “Winners,” beat its own expectations with a very solid quarter.
The company’s sales grew nine percent to $7.0 billion on a five-percent gain in global comparable store sales.
Earnings were $623.0 million compared to $462.0 million. Diluted earnings per share grew to $0.86 from $0.62, representing an impressive 39% gain. The company’s cash position and total shareholders equity soared and management boosted its full-year outlook, especially for fully diluted earnings per share.
Things are going to be choppy this holiday season, but I have a feeling retailers are going to surprise to the upside. And even if total sales growth is minimal, we’re getting meaningful margin expansion, which is boosting earnings at a very decent pace.
It is difficult to discern a trend in retail numbers. But from the investor’s perspective, the numbers are the numbers. For these companies, the earnings speak for themselves.