In the first quarter, TJX recorded higher earnings that beat a Wall Street estimate but sales that didn’t quite live up to expectations with revenue in home merchandise continuing to lag.
TJX didn’t post adjusted diluted earnings per share in the last completed quarter but did for the year-past period, which was 68 cents.
An analyst consensus estimate published by Yahoo Finance called for earnings per diluted share of 71 cents and revenues of $11.82 billion.
Net sales were $11.78 billion versus $11.41 billion in the quarter a year previous as comparable sales increased by 3%, the company reported.
Comparable sales at Marmaxx, including T.J.Maxx and Marshalls, were up 5%, while comps at HomeGoods were down 7%, comps at TJX Canada were up 1% and those in TJX International were up 4%.
In a conference call, Ernie Herrman, TJX president and CEO, emphasized the company’s profitability in the quarter.
“Both pre-tax profit margin and earnings per share increased versus last year and well exceeded our expectations,” he said. “Importantly, merchandise margin was very healthy.”
Sales of home merchandise were down as the company continued to cycle a COVID-19 pandemic-related sales surge in the category, John Klinger, executive vp and CFO, said in the conference call. Apparel and accessories sales were strong with comp growth up mid-single digits.
In announcing the financial results, Herrman said, “Our pretax profit margin and earnings per share both significantly exceeded our plan and our 3% comparable store sales increase was at the high end of our plan. Our comp sales growth was driven by an increase in overall customer traffic and a 5% comp sales increase at Marmaxx, our largest division. HomeGoods’ comp sales were down following extraordinary growth during the pandemic. TJX Canada and TJX International both delivered comp sales growth and customer traffic increases. With our above-plan profit performance, we are raising our full-year guidance for both pretax profit margin and earnings per share. The strength and flexibility of our off-price business model, depth of our organization’s expertise, and our wide demographic reach all give me great confidence in our ability to continue to succeed in today’s retail environment. Every day, our global organization is focused on bringing customers around the world excellent values on great fashions and great brands and an exciting, treasure-hunt shopping experience. We are pleased that the second quarter is off to a good start and we are seeing phenomenal off-price buying opportunities in the marketplace.”
