UPDATE: Macy's Posts Upbeat Q3 Earnings, But Lowers Full-Year Forecast

Macy's M reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter. However, the company's revenue missed analysts' estimates. The company also lowered its outlook for the year. For the year, the retailer now projects earnings of $4.25 to $4.35 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $4.40 to $4.50 per share. Macy's now expects same-store sales growth, together with comparable sales of departments licensed to third parties, of 1.2% to 1.5%, versus its previous outlook of 2% to 2.5% growth. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company posted a quarterly profit of $217 million, or $0.61 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $177 million, or $0.47 per share. Its revenue slipped 1.3% to $6.2 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.51 per share on revenue of $6.37 billion. Macy's same-store sales dropped 0.7%, while same-store sales, excluding departments licensed to third parties, dropped 1.4%. Gross margin came in flat at 39.2%. In the quarter, the company opened 3 new Macy's stores in Sarasota, FL, Las Vegas, NV, and The Bronx in New York City, and closed Macy's stores in Bradenton, FL, and York, PA. During the quarter, Macy's repurchased approximately 9.0 million shares of its common stock for a total of approximately $534 million. “We are very pleased with our third quarter earnings, even though the sales performance fell short of our expectations. On a two-year basis, our third quarter sales trend was essentially unchanged from the first half of 2014. We knew we were up against very strong third quarter sales growth for our company last year, and thus we had anticipated that our year-over-year comparison would be lower in the third quarter than in the fourth quarter,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy's, Inc. Macy's shares gained 1.04% to $59.20 in pre-market trading.