Nordstrom mixed in Q1

Nordstrom beat the Street on earnings in its first quarter amid strong sales in its off-price division.



Nordstrom said it earned $63 million in the first quarter, compared with $46 million, in the year-ago period. The company earned an adjusted $0.43 a share, beating the $0.27 that analysts were expecting.



Total company net sales increased 2.7% to $3.3 billion. Same-store sales fell 0.8%, worse than expected. Online sales accounted for 24% of total net sales.



By division, sales for the Nordstrom brand, including U.S. and Canadian full-line stores and Nordstrom.com, fell 1.7%, and same-store sales decreased 2.8%.



For the Nordstrom Rack brand, which consists of Nordstrom Rack stores and Nordstromrack.com/HauteLook, net sales rose 8.7%, and comparable sales increased 2.3%.



Across U.S. full-line stores and Nordstrom.com, the top-performing merchandise categories were men's and women's apparel. The West was the top-ranking U.S. region.



Nordstrom said it continued to make progress in executing its customer strategy while maintaining execution around inventory and expenses. Its total customer count increased compared with the first quarter last year.



In May 2016, the retailer expanded its Nordstrom Rewards loyalty program to enable all customers to earn benefits regardless of how they choose to pay. The effort has paid off. Nordstrom said it now has more than 8.6 million active Rewards customers in the U.S. and Canada, up from approximately 5 million a year ago. Sales from Nordstrom Rewards customers represented 47% of first quarter sales, compared with 39% a year ago.



The company reiterated its annual outlook for earnings per diluted share of $2.75 to $3.00, net sales increase of 3%- to 4% and approximately flat comparable sales.