TJX Cos., after a solid third quarter, declared the company’s fourth quarter is off to a good start ahead of what it expects to be a strong holiday finale.
Net income was $1.3 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share, versus $1.19 billion, or $1.03 per diluted share, in the year-earlier quarter, the company stated.
A Yahoo Finance-published analyst consensus estimate was for earnings of $1.10 per diluted share and revenue of $13.95 billion.
Comparable sales advanced 3% company-wide in the quarter versus the prior-year period. Year-over-year comps at Marmaxx, including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, were up 2%, while HomeGoods posted a 3% gain, TJX Canada posted a 2% gain and TJX International posted a 7% gain year over year.
Net sales were $14.06 billion versus $13.27 billion in the year-before quarter, TJX reported.
Ernie Herrman, TJX president and CEO, said, “This holiday season, consumers can expect to see great value throughout our stores every time they shop us. We see this as a meaningful advantage as consumers can shop our excellent values every day and not have to wait for sales or promotional days elsewhere.”
Herrman said the availability of merchandise in the market has helped TJX prepare favorably for the holiday season across all its banners, which are positioned “extremely well” to serve shoppers across a wide range of demographics. TJX is backing store operations with aggressive marketing across media channels.
“I am very pleased with our third quarter results and the strong execution of our off-price business fundamentals by our teams,” Herrman said. “Our comp-store sales increase of 3% was at the high end of our plan, and both pretax profit margin and earnings per share came in well above our expectations. Across the company, customer transactions drove our comp sales increases, which tells us that our values and treasure hunt shopping experience are appealing to a wide range of customers.”
“I want to specifically highlight our European team for their strong results, which drove the 7% comp increase at our TJX International division,” added Herrman, noting the company is getting set to expand European operations to Spain. “With our above-plan profitability results in the third quarter, we are raising our full-year guidance for pretax profit margin and earnings per share. The fourth quarter is off to a strong start, and we are excited about our opportunities for the holiday selling season. In stores and online, we are offering consumers an ever-changing and inspiring shopping destination for gifts at excellent values, and feel confident that there will be something for everyone when they shop us. Going forward, we continue to see great potential to successfully grow TJX around the globe well into the future.”
