The luxury goods company reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40 on revenues of $1.2 billion for the quarter. In the same period a year ago, Tiffany reported EPS of $1.39 on revenue of $1.19 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.36 and $1.25 billion in revenue.

For the full year, Tiffany posted EPS of $3.25 on revenues of $3.8 billion, compared with EPS of $3.40 on revenues of $3.64 billion in 2011. The consensus estimate called for EPS of $3.21 on revenues of $3.8 billion.

At the end of the third quarter, Tiffany lowered its full-year EPS estimate to a range of $3.20 to $3.40, and its results came in closer to the bottom of the range than to the top. Revenues also came in nearer the low end of the company’s January forecast.

The company’s CEO said:

While financial results in fiscal 2012 were disappointing due to lower-than-expected sales growth and pressures on gross margin, we continued to maintain a longer-term focus on strengthening global awareness of the TIFFANY & CO. brand and on further developing compelling product offerings.

In its outlook for 2013, Tiffany expects global net sales to grow by 6% to 8% and net profit growth in the range of 6% to 9% ($3.43 to $3.53 per diluted share). However, in the first quarter, net earnings from operations are expected to fall 15% to 20% “due to gross margin pressure and higher marketing related costs.” Growth is forecast for the other three quarters.

Shares are up about 5.6% in pr-market trading this morning, at $67.91 in a 52-week range of $49.72 to $73.50. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $67.10 before today’s results were announced.

After Ellison purchased the majority of the Island of Lanai, he told CNBC that Lanai would become a lab of sustainable business on a small scale. No tourism plans were shown at the time but the island was going to have solar power, electric cars, and even organic farms. Island Air flies turboprop planes with 224 weekly flights between Hawaii’s major islands of O’ahu, Maui, Moloka’i, Lana’i and Kaua’i.

Fantasy Island was a show that ran in the late 1970s through the early 1980s. Its key star was Ricardo Montalban as the island’s host Mr. Roarke. His peculiar assistant (or whatever you would call him) Tattoo was well known for his phrase every show “The plane! The plane!” which printed words cannot quite capture in the same accent. Guests would arrive by float plane at the start of each show.

This marks yet another odd purchase by yet another eccentric billionaire. With Ellison buying a Hawaiian island and the airline that flies there, it is hard not to ask if Larry Ellison is trying to recreate Fantasy Island here.

This suit could have the same result of a similar 2004 charge that Tiffany leveled against eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY). In that case the court said it was Tiffany’s responsibility to figure out the source of the counterfeit jewelry, not eBay’s.

In this case, Costco removed the rings from its stores in December on a request from Tiffany, but Tifffany filed suit yesterday after the company said it learned that Costco had been selling the rings for “many years,” according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Counterfeiting of luxury goods is an issue most of us associate with emerging country economies, where the luxury brand confers a status simply on the basis of its logo, not on the quality of its goods. Whether or not Costco knew the source of the rings, the company probably should have been more suspicious of Tiffany-labelled jewelry that it could sell for half price. When something appears to be too good to be true, it usually is.

Global same-store sales for the quarter rose 41.4% year-over-year, and the company says it has opened 66 new stores since the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

Kors’s CEO said:

Our strong third quarter performance reflects sustained brand momentum as the global recognition and appeal for the Michael Kors luxury brand continued to expand. Moreover, we were extremely pleased with the holiday season as Michael Kors’ brand strength, innovative fashion design and jet-set in-store experience drove strong sales and earnings.

The company guided fourth-quarter revenue to $515 to $525 million, assuming an increase in same-store sales in the low to mid-20% range. EPS is forecast at $0.32 to $0.34 for the quarter.

For the 2013 fiscal year, Kors now estimates revenues of $2.1 billion, up from the previous guidance of $1.86 billion to $1.96 billion, and assumes a same-store sales increase in the mid-30% range. EPS is now forecast at $1.80 to $1.82, up generously from $1.48 to $1.50 for the full year.

The consensus estimates for the company’s fourth-quarter call for EPS of $0.32 on revenues of $513.29 million. For the full year, the consensus estimate calls for EPS of $1.56 on revenues of $2.01 billion.

Kors continues to be one of the bright lights in luxury apparel business since coming public in December of last year. Last quarter’s results were a bit of a disappointment, but Kors more than made up for it today. Guidance is way past estimates, and quarterly results just hammered expectations.

Shares are up about 10.5% in premarket trading to $63.00, above the 52-week high. The current 52-week range is $33.02 to $60.00. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of $65.30 before today’s results were announced.

The top scoring retailers in ForeSee’s Luxury E-Retail Satisfaction index were Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) and Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) tied with a score of 80 on a 100-point scale. That score barely indicates excellent service. Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) and Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) tied with 79 for second place.

The lowest scoring e-retailers were privately held Rue La La and Gilt, with scores of 73 and 72 respectively. For the entire luxury sector the aggregate index score was 77.

Luxury retailers do not score as high as many other online retailers. The top scorer among all e-retailers in ForeSee’s December survey was Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), with a score of 88. And there were at least a dozen other e-retailers with scores above 80, including Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG).

The good news for luxury retailers is that their shoppers are more likely to use mobile devices to do their shopping, indicating a comfort level with both the security and ease of mobile e-commerce. An executive at ForeSee draws the conclusion:

Mobile is a huge area of opportunity of any retailer, but particularly for a luxury brand. Our study shows that luxury brand shoppers are already adopting the mobile channel faster than non-luxury brand shoppers. It’s now up to those retailers to deliver what luxury customers want from mobile in order to keep them coming back to the brand and to influence purchases across all channels.

And what do customers want? According to ForeSee’s survey, 41% complained that prices were too high. However improving merchandise selection and improving the e-retail site would have a bigger impact on both customer satisfaction and return on investment.

The most interesting part of the deal is that once it is closed, Harry Winston Diamond Corp. will change its name to Dominion Diamond Corp. Swatch does not want any brand confusion, and it has paid a premium price to get what it wants.

In November, Harry Winston acquired a Canadian diamond mine from BHP Billiton PLC (NYSE: BHP) for $500 million. The company already owns a 40% stake in another Canadian diamond mine that is majority owned and operated by Rio Tinto PLC (NYSE: RIO).

We noted at the time that major mining companies like BHP and Rio Tinto have been actively trying to shed their diamond mining properties. Apparently Harry Winston saw an opportunity here to refashion itself as the DeBeers of the Western Hemisphere. The company’s CEO said today:

At the time that we purchased the Harry Winston brand, resource investment opportunities for diamonds were rare and expensive following the euphoria of the Canadian diamond discoveries, and the involvement of the large international mining companies. … Today there is a range of diamond resource opportunities while the value of heritage luxury brands has increased dramatically. This transaction represents a sound return on our original investment. It will leave us well equipped to realize upstream opportunities in an environment where cash has become a strategic resource while preserving and expanding our relationship with the downstream diamond business.

Shares of Harry Winston Diamond Corp. are up about 23% in premarket trading this morning, at $17.81 in a previous 52-week range of $10.32 to $15.92.

Worldwide same-store sales were flat compared with the same two months of 2011. Worldwide net sales rose 4%, excluding the effects of currency exchange rates.

Same-store sales fell by 2% in the Americas, by 5% in Japan and by 1% in Europe. In the Asia-Pacific region, sales rose 10% (7% on a constant currency basis).

For the full fiscal year to date, same-store sales are flat with a year ago and up 1% on a constant currency basis.

The company guided full-year earnings per share (EPS) at the lower end of its previously announced range of $3.20 to $3.40. The consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters calls for EPS of $3.26. Tiffany lowered EPS guidance from a range of $3.55 to $3.70 at the end of its third quarter in October.

Looking ahead, for the fiscal year ending in January 2014, Tiffany expects net earnings growth in the range of 6% to 9%.

Shares have fallen about 8.6% in premarket trading this morning, at $57.80 in a 52-week range of $49.72 to $74.20. The consensus price target for the stock is about $67.

In theory, owning the miners gives you exposure to the spot price. The downside to owning the miners is that gold mining is an extremely capital intensive business, often performed in very volatile locations like Africa and other high risk locations. They see absolutely no reason for investors seeking gold price exposure to own high multiple mining stocks, which due to their very nature expose the investor to even more inherent risk. This will spell bad news for Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT: GDX) and for Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT: GDXJ) if Jefferies is right.

Sure you can hedge the miners by purchasing puts or using a costless collar (whereby you sell a covered call against your purchased stock and use the proceeds to buy protective put options). But you may just be adding more layers to an already risky portfolio holding. It is their contention that large cap miners like Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) will find it extremely difficult to replace current reserves with ounces acquired at comparable costs. Why? For the same reason an investor is long gold in the first place — inflation. Costs are continuing to rise, from equipment to labor, and will only stay on a similar path as central banks around the world continue to thirst for large stockpiles of gold to hedge their currency risk.

So what’s the answer? Simple, a gold pair trade. The investor buys the ETF that attempts to track gold pricing, SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEMKT: GLD). Then, you are short a basket of large cap gold-mining stocks that have been underperforming and/or Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT: GDX) and Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEMKT: GDXJ).

The aforementioned Newmont has declined in price this year despite materially higher gold prices. So if the same trend continues, the investor benefits as SPDR Gold Shares rises, and the price of the large cap miners continues to decline, or at worst stay flat. Short and long, the classic pair trade.

Lee W. Jackson

For the quarter, same-store sales rose just 1%, while total sales were up 5% on a constant-currency basis.

The company’s CEO said:

Three months ago, we had anticipated that third quarter results would be affected by continued economic weakness in many markets as well as by challenging comparisons to last year when net sales were up 21% and net earnings had increased 52% excluding nonrecurring items. However, gross margin was weaker than we expected and Tiffany’s effective tax rate was higher than we expected. As a result, net earnings were below our expectations.

Gross margins fell from 57.9% in the same period a year ago to 54.4% in the third quarter due to high precious metal and diamond costs, an unfavorable sales mix, and “reduced sales leverage on fixed costs.” The company noted that sales of silver jewelry were lower than expected.

Tiffany also cut its outlook for the fiscal year ending in January 2013. The company lowered its EPS guidance from $3.55 to $3.70 to a new range of $3.20 to $3.40. The consensus estimate had called for EPS of $3.60 on revenues of $3.86 billion. Tiffany estimates that fiscal year revenue will rise by 5% to 6% year-over-year, from last year’s total of $3.64 billion.

Shares are down nearly 14% in premarket trading this morning, at $54.99 in a 52-week range of $49.72 to $74.20. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $69.40 before today’s results were announced.

Paul Ausick

Also Read: The 10 Companies That Control the News

In the low-end department stores and supermarkets, sales per square foot were in many cases less than $100. Hancock Fabrics, a fabric retailer, brought in just $72 per square foot. Meanwhile, the retailers with the most profitable stores brought in more than $1,000 per square foot. These are mostly high-end brands, selling much more expensive products. Based on the RetailSails report, 24/7 Wall St. identified the nine most successful retail stores in America.

In the case of most department stores and discount stores like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Kmart and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO), most items cost less than $100, and most stores are very large. The average retail space in some of the least successful stores by sales per square foot is at least 10,000 square feet. This prevents the total profits per square foot from exceeding several hundred dollars, even among the most popular stores.

For the nine most profitable corporate stores, the opposite is true. They sell luxury goods, in apparel, accessories, electronics or jewelry. Their products are often quite expensive, while the stores are generally relatively small. Much of the merchandise companies such as Apple, Tiffany and Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) sell costs in the hundreds of dollars or more. At the same time, the average store floor space of most of these companies is less than 5,000 square feet. While total sales of the average Kmart store is roughly double what Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) stores do, the average floor space of a Lululemon is only 1/34th that of a Kmart store.

Because most of the profitable stores sell luxury items, they tend to be more selective in the markets they enter. Several of these companies have fewer than 100 stores nationwide. Birks & Mayors Inc. (NYSEMKT: BMJ) has only 57. Even stores that average small retail space, such as RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH), turn low profit per square foot because they have hundreds of low-profit stores in low-income communities. RadioShack has 4,423 stores.

In many ways, Apple, the most successful store in terms of profit per square feet, is different from each of the other eight companies on this list. Companies like Tiffany, Coach and Select Comfort Corp. (NASDAQ: SCSS) rely primarily on their brick-and-mortar stores. Apple makes the vast majority of its sales and profits online, with its physical stores serving as hubs to improve branding and showcase new products. Apple’s business model of regularly releasing new buzz products, such as the latest iPhone, draws in large crowds of customers looking to buy these item as soon as they hit the shelves.

Relying on RetailSails’ 2012 Chain Store Productivity Guide, 24/7 Wall St. identified the nine companies with the highest sales per square foot, based on the past 12 months of sales. Retailsails also provided average store size, average annual sales per store, one-year sales growth and the number of stores.

These are America’s most profitable stores.