Business Analytics

Dallas -- Zale Corp. said Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 31 surged to $27.2 million, compared with $6.7 million a year earlier.

Zale, which has struggled to regain profitability as the economy improves, posted net income of $27.2 million compared with $6.7 million, or 21 cents per share a year ago. Sales rose to $626.4 million for the quarter, from $582.3 million. Same-store sale rose 7.9%, compared with a decrease of 11.2% during the comparable period in the prior year.

There’s no way to sugarcoat the 1.8% same-store sales decline produced by Walmart’s U.S. stores division during the fourth quarter, especially after management vowed last fall that comps would turn positive during the period and end six quarters of negative results.

Dallas -- Zale Corp. said Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 31 surged to $27.2 million, compared with $6.7 million a year earlier.

Zale, which has struggled to regain profitability as the economy improves, posted net income of $27.2 million compared with $6.7 million, or 21 cents per share a year ago. Sales rose to $626.4 million for the quarter, from $582.3 million. Same-store sale rose 7.9%, compared with a decrease of 11.2% during the comparable period in the prior year.

Members shopped Sam’s Club more often and spent more on each trip during the fourth quarter, propelling Sam’s to a 2.7% same-store sales increase, while operating profits were flat. The forecast for the first quarter calls for same-store sales to increase between 1% and 3%.

New York City -- Saks returned to profitability in its fiscal fourth quarter as the chain sold more items at full-price and used fewer promotions. The company reported net income of $25 million for the period ended Jan. 29, compared with a loss of $4.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 7% to $866.3 million, topping Wall Street's estimate of $854.4 million. Same store sales were up 8.4%.

NEW YORK — The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index reached 70.4 in February, a three-year high from February 2008, thanks to growing optimism about the short-term future.

Atlanta -- Home Depot reported Tuesday that profit for the quarter ended Jan. 30 surged 72% to $587 million, compared with $342 million a year earlier, and and the home-improvement chain provided 2011 guidance at or above the views it gave in December. Results were helped by a strong showing in the United States.

Revenue increased 3.8% to $15.12 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $14.81 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.9% and were up 4.8% in the United States.

Cary, N.C. -- Business analytics software and service provider SAS announced Tuesday that it is acquiring Assetlink, a marketing resource management firm.