Is This a Turning Point for Macy’s?

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) released its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Tuesday. The retailer posted $2.12 in earnings per share (EPS) and $8.34 billion in revenue, which compares with consensus estimates of $1.96 in EPS and $8.32 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $2.73 on $8.46 billion in revenue.

During the most recent quarter, comparable sales for owned stores decreased 0.6% year over year. On an owned plus licensed basis, comparable sales decreased 0.5%.

Macy’s also updated the estimated total costs related to its Polaris transition plan to approximately $400 million to $420 million. In 2019, the company recognized Polaris-related costs of about $318 million, of which $161 million were non-cash impairment charges associated with store closures and campus consolidations and $157 million were cash costs related to restructuring activities. The remaining costs to be recorded in 2020 are expected to be cash.

Looking ahead to 2020, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $2.45 to $2.65 and net sales between $23.6 billion and $23.9 billion. Consensus estimates call for $2.45 in EPS and $23.81 billion in revenue for the year.

Jeff Gennette, board chair and chief executive of Macy’s, commented:

Taken as a whole, 2019 did not play out as we intended for Macy’s, Inc. However, we executed well during the Holiday 2019 season. We were pleased with the significant trend improvement in the fourth quarter, including a meaningful sales uptick in the 10 shopping days before Christmas. Together with disciplined expense management, our solid sales results in the fourth quarter allowed us to deliver stronger-than-expected earnings results. Importantly, we exited the year with a clean inventory position.

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Macy’s stock traded up more than 2% early Tuesday at $15.80, in a 52-week range of $14.11 to $26.33. The consensus price target is $16.19.

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