On Thursday, Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) and Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS) both reported smaller-than-expected first-quarter profit declines as consumers continued to pull back their spending.
Luxury retailer Nordstrom said its profit fell 24% from the same quarter of last year to $119 million, or 54 cents per share. Revenue fell 4% from a year ago to $1.88 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had predicted Nordstrom would earn 49 cents per share on sales of $1.9 billion.
The company said same-store sales fell 6.5% for the quarter, below the expected 3% to 5% drop. The retailer said it expects same-store sales to fall 5% to 7% in the quarter, and 4% to 6% in the year.
For the current quarter, Nordstrom forecast a profit of 65 to 70 cents per share; analysts' forecast earnings of 69 cents per share. For the full year, Nordstrom cut its earnings outlook to $2.65 to $2.89 per share, from an earlier forecast for $2.75 to $2.90 per share. Analysts predict earnings of $2.76 per share.
By mid day Friday, shares of Nordstrom had gained $1.35, or 3.5%, from the open on Thursday. Shares have fallen 28.7% in the past year.
The Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl's department store chain said it earned $153 million, or 49 cents per share, during the quarter that ended May 3. That's down nearly 27% from the same period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, on average, expected earnings of 44 cents per share.
Sales rose 1.5% in the quarter to $3.6 billion, in line with analysts' estimates. However, same-store sales fell 6.7%.
Kohl's predicted earnings for the year would fall to a range of $2.95 to $3.15, compared to previously forecast earnings per share of $3.15 to $3.50. For the second quarter, Kohl's expects earnings per share to fall in a range of 70 cents to 74 cents, in line with analysts' expectations.
Shares of Kohl's fell to $49.50 in after-hours trading Thursday, and by mid day Friday had slipped to $48.30. Shares have fallen 32.9% in the past year.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-16-2008 @ 4:26PM
Bill Dollar said...
Oil is over $ 127 a barrel and our fake president is over in Europe blowing smoke under the skirts of the Israel's and Saudi's while the middle class of America continues to fall backwards. Why wouldn't the profits decline with these two organizations? This patheic excuse of a world leader is totally clueless and thank god this moronic fool will soon be out of the white house. Then the long and painful process to rebuild America can begin under the guidance of President Obama.