TJX in Q1 comeback; tops Street as shoppers return

The TJX Companies is starting to making up for lost time last year when its stores around the globe were shuttered due to the pandemic.

The parent company of Home Goods, TJX and Marshalls swung to a profit in its first quarter, fueled by strong U.S. sales across its banners, particularly Home Goods. 

The off-price giant reported net income of $533.9 million, or $0.44 per share, in the quarter ended May 1, after a loss of $887.5 million, or $0.74 per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts had forecast earnings per share of $0.31.

Sales more than doubled to $10.09 billion from $4.41 billion last year, in which stores were closed for approximately 50% of the quarter due to the pandemic. Analysts had expected first-quarter sales of $8.61 billion.

TJX said all its U.S. stores were open during the quarter, but that its stores in Europe were closed for approximately 76% of the quarter and stores in Canada were closed for about 25% of the time. Three hundred locations in Canada and Europe are currently temporarily closed.

Open-only comp store sales were up 16% in the quarter. (Open-only comp store sales only account for the days when stores were open during the first quarter of fiscal 2022 and the same period in fiscal 2020.) By brand, open-only comp sales rose 40% at Home Goods, 12% at Marmaxx (TJX and Marshalls), 9% at TJX Canada and 11% at TJX International (Europe and Australia). 

“I am extremely pleased with our first quarter results, with overall open-only comp store sales up 16% and earnings per share of $.44, both well above our plan,” said CEO and president Ernie Herrman. “Once again, we saw phenomenal performance in our home businesses across all of our divisions. We also saw strong open-only comp store sales increases in many other categories and positive open-only comp store sales in overall apparel, which we believe benefitted from consumers beginning to resume more normal activities.”

Herrman As we start the second quarter, overall open-only comp store sales trends remain similar to the first quarter.

Citing the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. TJX did not provide guidance. However, Herrman said open-only comp store sales trends at the start of the second quarter have been similar to the first quarter. 

“While the environment remains uncertain, particularly internationally, we are convinced we are strongly positioned as we emerge from this health crisis,” he said. Looking ahead, we see numerous opportunities to capture additional market share around the world and are excited about the runway for growth we see for TJX.”