Nordstrom sales and earnings outperformed Wall Street estimates in the third quarter, highlighted by solid comparable sales gains in the company’s department store and the off-price businesses.
Net earnings were $46 million, or 27 cents per diluted share, versus $67 million, or 41 cents per diluted share, in the year-previous period, the company reported. Adjusted for one-time events, earnings per diluted share were 33 cents versus 25 cents in the year-before period.
A Zacks Investment Research analyst consensus estimate was for adjusted diluted earnings per share of 23 cents and revenues of $3.33 billion.
Net sales increased 4.6% to $3.35 billion versus the quarter in 2023, as company comparable sales increased 4%. Nordstrom banner net sales gained 1.3% to $2.08 billion as comps advanced 4% in the quarter year over year, the company reported. Net sales for Nordstrom Rack increased 10.6% to $1.27 billion as comps advanced 3.9% year over year.
The timing of Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale, the company’s premier promotional event, changed with one week shifting from the third to the second quarter. The move had a negative impact of about 100 basis points on third quarter net sales year over year, Nordstrom noted.
“The continued sales growth across the company and strong gross margin in the third quarter indicate our team’s focus and efforts are working,” said Erik Nordstrom, the company’s CEO. “Our customers have a lot of choices, and our results give us encouragement that we’re on the right path. Looking ahead, we’ll continue to improve our shopping experience as we strive to maintain the positive momentum we’ve worked towards all year.”
Pete Nordstrom, company president, added, “Our third-quarter results demonstrate that our strategic focus on curating a compelling brand assortment is resonating with customers. Our actions throughout this year have led to this moment, and we feel well-positioned for a successful holiday season and look forward to helping our customers celebrate the moments that matter.”
In a conference call, Nordstrom management said it would not comment on prior announcements regarding the proposal by Nordstrom family members to take the company private or on the board of director’s exploration of that offer.
