TJX Reports Increase in Profits, Raises Outlook for 4th Quarter

TJX Companies' third-quarter earnings report missed targets Tuesday, but the company raised its outlook for the 4th quarter and fiscal year. Net income came in at $249.5 million ($0.54/share) versus $230.6 million ($0.48/share) last year. Sales for the quarter climbed 6% to $4.7 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.55/share on $4.79 billion of revenue. Comparable store sales increased 3% over last year's figures. CEO Carol Meyrowitz said, "While sales were slightly below plan, we believe this was mostly due to unseasonably warm weather… We enter the fourth quarter with very clean, fresh inventories, and significantly more liquidity than at this time last year, which positions us well to take advantage of a market full of buying opportunities and flow great gift product throughout the holiday selling season." The company raised its fourth-quarter guidance to $0.58-$0.60/share, in-line with analysts' forecasts, and estimates comparable store sales growth to be 4%. For the fiscal year ending in January, the company now expects earnings from continuing operations to be $1.86-$1.88/share, an increase over the $1.84-$1.88/share range it previously guided. Analysts are looking for $1.88/share. Shares of TJX were up 0.3% to $29.40 in pre-market trading as investors were still digesting the report.

Sources: Press release, RTT News
Commentary: The TJX Precedent: Retailers May Have To Take Data Security Seriously • The TJX Companies: High Quality Retailer In the Bargain Bin
Stocks to watch: TJX. Competitors: KSS, M, TGT. ETFs: RCD, XRT
Earnings call transcript: TJX Companies F2Q08 (Qtr End 7/28/07)

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