Macy’s swings to Q4 profit but sales decline; 2025 outlook disappoints
Macy’s, Inc. turned profitable in the holiday quarter with earnings that easily topped analysts’ expectations as its turnaround strategy started to show some signs of taking hold.
But the quarterly results were mixed as sales fell and missed expectations. The department store giant also echoed other retailers, including Walmart, Target and Abercrombie & Fitch, with a cautious outlook for 2025 amid tariff and consumer uncertainty.
[READ MORE: Consumer confidence down sharply in February]
Net income totaled $342 million, or $1.21 a share, for the quarter ended Feb. 1, compared with a loss of $128 million, or a loss of $0.47 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings totaled $507 million, or $1.80 per share, ahead of analysts estimates of $1.54 a share.
Operating income rose to $500 million, from a loss of $149 million in the year-ago period.
Revenue fell 4.3% to $7.77 billion, just below analysts’ estimates. (Similar to other retailers, Macy’s benefited from an extra selling week in the year-ago period.)
Comparable sales dropped 1.1%, but rose 0.2% on an owned, licensed and marketplace basis.
By division, Bluemercury reported its16th consecutive quarter of comparable sales growth, up 6.2%. Bloomingdale’s reported owned comparable sales growth of 4.8% and its highest fourth quarter owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace comparable sales growth of 6.5%.
Macy’s “First 50” locations (the name of the stores that the retailer is investing in and upgrading as part of its “Bold New Chapter” turnaround strategy) delivered fourth consecutive quarter of comparable sales growth, up 0.8% on an owned basis and up 1.2% on an owned-plus-licensed basis.
“As we close out the first year of the Bold New Chapter strategy, investments in the customer experience enabled us to achieve our highest comparable sales of the year, our best performance in 11 quarters,” said Tony Spring, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s Inc. “At Macy’s, our First 50 locations delivered four quarters of increased sales, while our luxury nameplates, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, achieved accelerated annual sales growth.”
As part of its strategy, Macy’s has committed to closing approximately 150 underproductive stores over a three-year period while investing in updates in 350 “go-forward“ Macy’s locations through fiscal 2026.
[READ MORE: Macy’s confirms planned store closures — here are the locations]
For fiscal 2025, the retailer expects adjusted earnings of $2.05 to $2.25 a share, below the $2.29 a share that analysts expected. Sales are expected to range between $21 billion and $21.4 billion, also lower than expected.
