Macy's Inc.(NYSE: M): Q4 Earnings Preview 2010

Macy's Inc.(NYSE: M) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter earnings before the market open on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $1.52 per share on revenue of $8.28 billion. In the year-ago period, the company reported earnings of $1.40 per share on revenue of $7.85 billion.

Macy's, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates department stores in the United States. The company operates about 850 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, as well as the macys.com and bloomingdales.com websites. The company also operates four Bloomingdale's outlet stores.

In the preceding third quarter, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company's net income was $$10 million, or 2 cents a share, compared to a loss of $35 million, or 8 cents a share, in the prior-year quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 8 cents a share in the latest quarter. Revenue climbed 6.6% to $5.62 billion from $5.28 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $5.55 billion.

Early in December, Macy's Inc. raised its fourth-quarter earnings guidance. Macy's said that it now expects earnings for the fourth quarter to be in a range of $1.44 per share to $1.49 per share, compared with previous guidance of $1.42 to $1.47 per share. This would result in full-year 2010 earnings of $1.96 to $2.01 per share, excluding expenses associated with the early retirement of debt, the company said. "On Black Friday alone, more than 4.5 million shoppers visited macys.com and bloomingdales.com, with a similarly high level of record traffic on CyberMonday," said Terry Lundgren, president and chief executive officer of Macy's, Inc.

Thanks to the improving consumer spending trend, robust holiday season and economic rebound, the department stores operator has been posting increase in same-store sale. Macy's reported a 2.6% increase in same-store sales for the the four weeks ended Jan. 30, 2010. For December, same-store sales were up 3.9% while same-store sales for the month of November rose 6.1%.

For the 13-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, Macy's, Inc.'s sales totaled $8.270 billion, up 5.4 percent from total sales of $7.849 billion for the final 13 weeks of 2009. On a same-store basis, the company's fourth quarter sales were up 4.3 percent. This is on the high end of the company's guidance for fourth quarter same-store sales to be up between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent. 

The company is taking steps to increase sales, profitability and cash flows, which include integration of operations, consolidation of divisions, customer-centric localization initiatives, as well as development of e-commerce business and online order fulfillment centers. To help drive traffic Macy’s continues to focus on price optimization, inventory management and merchandise planning.

Last month, the company announced a series of organizational expansions, totaling approximately 725 new positions over the next two years, to support the growth of macys.com and bloomingdales.com. In total, the company expects to add nearly 3,500 full-time, part-time and seasonal holiday associates in the next two years in relation to the growth of its online businesses. Online sales (macys.com and bloomingdales.com combined) were up 27.2 percent in January, 29.1 percent in the fourth quarter and 28.7 percent for fiscal 2010. Online sales positively affected the company's same-store sales by 1.1 percentage points in the fourth quarter and 0.9 percentage points in fiscal 2010 as a whole.

Full Disclosure: None.

Macy's Inc.(NYSE: M): Q4 Earnings Preview 2009

Macy's Inc.(NYSE: M) is scheduled to release its fiscal fourth-quarter 2009 financial results before the market open on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $1.32 a share on revenue of $7.85 billion. In the year ago period, the company posted earnings of $1.06 per share on revenue of $7.93 billion.

Macy's, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates department stores in the United States. Its retail stores and Internet Web sites sells a range of merchandise, including men's, women's, and children's apparel and accessories; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods. It operated approximately 849 retail stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico under the names Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

In the preceding fiscal-third quarter, the New York-based company posted net loss of$35 million, narrower than the prior-year quarter's loss of $44 million. On a per share basis, loss shrank to $0.08 from $0.10 incurred in the same quarter of last year. Excluding restructuring costs, the latest quarter's loss was $0.03 per share compared to a loss of $0.08 last year. Revenue declined 3.9% to $5.28 billion from $5.49 billion reported in the comparable quarter of the previous year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report a loss of $0.07 per share on revenue of $5.25 billion for the quarter.

Early in February, the company upped its guidance citing better-than-expected sales, expense management and gross margins, as well as a favorable tax settlement. The company now expects fourth quarter earnings to be $1.35 to $1.37 per share, excluding restructuring-related costs, compared with the previous guidance of $1.14 to $1.18 per share. Included in the new fourth quarter guidance is a non-cash credit resulting from the settlement of the company's federal income tax examinations for fiscal years 2006, 2007, and 2008.

For fiscal 2009, the company now expects earnings to be $1.36 to $1.38 per share, excluding restructuring-related costs, compared with previous guidance of $1.15 to $1.19 per share.

Thanks to the improving consumer spending trend, robust holiday season and economic rebound, the department stores operator has been posting increase in same-store sale. Macy's reported a 3.4% increase in same-store sales for the the four weeks ended Jan. 30, 2010. For December, same-store sales were up 1% while same-store sales for the month of November declined 6.1%.

For the 13-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, Macy's, Inc.'s sales totaled $7.851 billion, down 1.0% from total sales of $7.934 billion in the same quarter of the previous year. On a same-store basis, the company's fourth quarter sales were down 0.8%. Online sales increased 26.6% for the fourth quarter, positively affecting same-store sales by 0.7 percentage points.

In January, Macy's, Inc. said it will close five Macy's stores as part of an ongoing annual process to selectively prune under performing locations while also opening new ones to fill gaps in local markets.In 2009, the company opened five new Macy's stores, reopened two stores in Houston that had been closed from damage by Hurricane Ike in 2008, and opened a new replacement store in Nampa, Idaho. In 2010, Macy's, Inc. currently expects to open new Bloomingdale's stores in Santa Monica, California, and its first international location in Dubai.

Among other development during the quarter, Macy's declared a regular quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share on Macy's common stock, payable April 1, 2010, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2010.

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye 31-Jan-11) of 11.81 and PEG (5 yr expected) of 1.46. In terms of stock performance, Macy's shares have gained nearly 137% over the past year.

Full Disclosure: None.

Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M): Third Quarter Earnings Preview

Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) is scheduled to report its third quarter earnings on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report a net loss of 10 cents per share on revenue of $5.20 billion. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of 8 cents per share on revenue of $5.49 billion.

Macy's, Inc. operates department stores in the United States. Its retail stores and Internet Web sites sells a range of merchandise, including men's, women's, and children's apparel and accessories; cosmetics; home furnishings; and other consumer goods. As of January 31, 2009, it operated approximately 840 retail stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico under the names Macy's and Bloomingdales.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company posted an overall loss of over $4 million for fiscal 2008 ended January 31, 2009, primarily due to the difficult retail environment amid severe economic downturn. The company was hit hard as cash strapped consumers slashed spending on nondiscretionary items such as clothing and accessories, leading to an overall decrease in demand across all price points. The company has tried to attract shoppers through markdowns; however those markdowns have also eroded its profit.

Though there are visible signs of economic recovery, the job market still remains weak. A release by Department of Labor on Friday showed that U.S. employers slashed 192,000 net jobs in October while unemployment rate increased to 10.2%.

In August, Macy reported that its second-quarter net income tumbled to $7 million, or 2 cents per share, from net income of $73 million, or 17 cents per share, in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 20 cents per share compared to prior year's earnings of $0.29 per share. Quarterly revenue declined 9.7% to $5.16 billion from $5.72 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 15 cents per share on revenue of $5.19 billion. On a same-store basis, Macy's second-quarter sales were down 9.5%. Gross margin in the quarter remained flat at 41.5% of total sales.

For full fiscal year 2009, the company expects to report earnings in the range of 70 cents to 80 cents per share, excluding restructuring-related costs. The company's previous adjusted earnings forecast was in the range of 40 cents to 55 cents per share. Further, Macy's expects same-store sales in the second half of fiscal 2009 to be in the range of down 5% to 6%, resulting in fiscal 2009 same-store sales to be down between 7% and 7.5%, within the previous guidance of a drop between 6% and 8%.

Early this month, the company said that its same-store sales decreased 0.8% in October. The department store chain registered a 2.3% decline in same-store sales in September. In August, Macy's posted 8.1% drop in same store sales and 8.5% decline.

Late in October, the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of 5 cents per share on Macy's common stock, payable Jan. 4, 2010, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 15, 2009.

In terms of stock performance, Macy's shares have gained 75% since the beginning of the year. Shares of the company rose $1.16 or 6.44% to close at $19.18 on Friday.

Disclosure: Author doesn’t own any of the stocks mentioned here.