TJX Companies, a leading discount retailer, that includes Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and even HomeGoods, reported last Tuesday morning below than expected fourth quarter overall sales, added with below average overall earnings forecasts that is partly because of recent translation costs of currency.
Overall sales for last year’s fourth quarter increased by 6% from same period of 2013 that amounted to $7.36B, but still unable to reach consensus estimates by Wall Street which was $7.44B. Overall net income reached $595M, equivalent to 85 cents for every share, same with Wall Street’s previous estimates which was 85 cents for every share, up by 13% compared to the previous year.
TJX’s consolidated comparable overall store sales increased by 2%, a significant increase compared to last year’s 5%.
Carol Meyrowitz, the company’s CEO, stated that she is very pleased when it comes to the company’s recent performance for this third quarter. She added that TJX’s 2% sales increase was leveling at the company’s high end plan compared to last year’s 5% growth.
Meyrowitz also stated that this is their strongest quarter, and that the company is also pleased about the gaining momentum of customer traffic during the year’s third quarter, even if the weather was a bit warm, which TJX believe dampened overall sales throughout Europe that started last September and also negatively affected Marmaxx last October.
TJX Companies repurchased $448M of their stock during the year’s third quarter, and also expect to repurchase $1.6 up to $1.7B more by 2015’s end. Overall shares decreased to almost 2%, roughly amounting to $60 during the morning trade, which is lower by 2%.