(Reuters) -TJX Cos on Wednesday raised its forecast for annual sales and profit, boosted by steady demand from budget-conscious customers looking for promotional deals and bargains ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season.
However, the company’s shares – which are up about 16% this year – were down about 2% before the bell as TJX trimmed its holiday-quarter profit expectations.
Discount and off-price retailers including TJX and Ross Stores have been benefiting from customers shifting to cheaper alternatives, as higher prices of essentials and interest rates squeeze household budgets.
Analysts believe that TJX, which offers discounts on a wide assortment of products in the range of 20%-60%, is well positioned going into the crucial shopping season, where holiday sales are expected to rise this year at the slowest pace in five years.
“Customer traffic was up across all divisions,” said CEO Ernie Herrman, adding that the fourth quarter was “off to a strong start.”
The discount store operator now expects full-year 2024 comparable store sales to be up 4% to 5%, from its earlier forecast of 3% to 4%.
TJX expects full-year 2024 adjusted earnings in the range of $3.61 and $3.64 per share, up from its previous outlook of $3.56 to $3.62 per share.
It now expects current-quarter adjusted earnings in the range of 97 cents to $1 per share, down from its previous forecast of $1 to $1.03. Analysts estimate a profit of $1.13, according to LSEG data.
This is in contrast to industry peer Target that forecast fourth-quarter profit above estimates on Wednesday, helped by easing supply-chain costs and a tighter control on inventory.
TJX posted a quarterly revenue of $13.27 billion compared with analyst estimates of $13.09 billion.
(Reporting by Juby Babu and Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
