Earnings Preview: Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co. (TIF) is expected to report Q1 earnings before the market open on Friday, May 29 with a conference call scheduled for 8:30 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for a profit of 20c on revenue of $533.03M. The consensus range is 16c-24c for EPS, and revenue of $523M-$552.2M, according to First Call. In March, Tiffany & Co., which reported Q4 profit fell 75%, forecast FY09 EPS $1.50-$1.60 versus First Call consensus of $1.56 on revenue down about 11%. The company said it plans to keep its prices firm and expects to cut CapEx to $100M this year, a 33% decrease from last year.

Analyst Views

CEO Michael Kowalski commented in March that worldwide sales declined at least 20% in the quarter to date and hadn't yet seen an improvement. The company recently acquired Lambertson Truex from Samsonite.

David Shick at Stifel Nicolaus said he believes sales improved at the retailer "modestly" from Q4, particularly at the company's Manhattan flagship store. He believes that while the upswing in financial markets is giving consumers more confidence, he thinks the improvement in sentiment "will be slow to flow" to luxury spending. Tiffany shares increased 39% for the quarter.