TJX Companies profit, sales surge amid strong customer traffic; raises outlook
Customers are not pulling back spending at off-price giant TJX Companies, which reported second-quarter gains across all its divisions.
The company’s net income totaled $989 million, or $0.85 a share, for the quarter ended July 29, up from $810 million, or $0.69 a share, in the year-age period. Analysts had expected earnings of $0.77 a share.
Sales rose about 8% to $12.76 billion, up from $11.84 billion a year earlier and topping estimates of $12.45 billion. Total same-store sales rose 6%, which the company said was well above its plan and entirely driven by customer traffic.
By division, comparable sales at Marmaxx (Marshalls and T.J.Maxx) increased 8% and were up 4% at Home Goods. TJX International’s comp sales rose 3%.
“I am extremely pleased with our second quarter performance, stated TJX Companies CEO Ernie Herrman. “Our overall apparel and accessories sales were very strong. Overall home sales significantly improved and returned to positive comp sales growth.”
TJX’s third quarter is off to a “very strong start,” Herrman said, and the company is seeing tremendous off-price buying opportunities in the marketplace, Herrman noted.
“With our above-plan results, we are raising our full-year outlook for comparable store sales, pretax profit margin, and earnings per share,” he said. “We are in an outstanding position to continue shipping fresh and compelling merchandise to our stores and online throughout the fall and holiday selling seasons.”
The retailer raised its full-year guidance and now expects same-store sales to rise 3% to 4%. It expects full-year earnings per share of $3.66 to $3.72.
At the end of the quarter, TJX operated a total of 4,865 stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Australia, and seven e-commerce sites. These include 1,305 T.J. Maxx, 1,190 Marshalls, 907 HomeGoods, 83 Sierra, and 49 Homesense stores in the United States; 299 Winners, 154 HomeSense, and 106 Marshalls stores in Canada; 636 T.K. Maxx and 79 Homesense stores in Europe; and 76 T.K. Maxx stores in Australia.