Adjusted loss fell a penny short of a Wall Street estimate, but sales gained at Nordstrom department store and off-price banners in the first quarter.
Adjusted for one-time events, the company posted a loss of six cents per diluted share versus 64 cents per diluted share in the year-before quarter.
Adjusted earnings came in a penny worse than a MarketBeat-published analyst consensus estimate, although revenues topped a $3.29 estimate on revenue.
Net sales were $3.47 billion while total revenues, including those from credit cards, were $3.57 billion, the company stated, versus $2.92 billion and $3.01 billion respectively, in the year-earlier quarter.
The company pointed out that sales for the Nordstrom banner advanced 23.5% compared to the year-past quarter, and exceeded pre-pandemic levels, while those for the Nordstrom Rack banner increased 10.3% versus the same period in fiscal 2021, demonstrating sequential improvement towards pre-pandemic sales levels.
Digital sales, representing 39% of sales in the quarter, were flat versus the 2021 period, Nordstrom noted.
In the quarter, core categories such as men’s and women’s apparel, shoes and designer had the strongest growth versus 2021 as customers refreshed their wardrobes for occasions such as social events, travel and return to office, Nordstrom asserted. Gains were broad-based across regions, with urban stores having the strongest growth. Merchandise margins improved as a result of favorable pricing impacts and lower markdown rates, Nordstrom indicated.
“Our focus on serving the customer through our interconnected model with Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack, a scaled digital platform and a strong store fleet positioned us to capitalize on-demand from customers who shopped for long-awaited occasions and refreshed their closets,” said Erik Nordstrom, the retailer’s CEO, in announcing the financial results. “In the first quarter, we drove strong top-line growth with broad-based improvement across core categories and geographies. Importantly, we made progress on our strategic initiatives and continue to focus on increasing profitability on the path to achieving our financial targets.”
