Sept 10 (Reuters) - Macy's raised its annual sales and profit forecasts on Thursday, buoyed by robust spending among higher-income shoppers at its upscale Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury chains despite economic pressures in the United States.
The department-store operator has been pursuing its "Bold New Chapter" turnaround strategy under CEO Tony Spring, focused on its higher-end businesses. It is prioritizing higher-margin products and full-price sales, closing underperforming stores and redirecting
resources toward stronger markets to improve profitability.
The company also said it expects an adjusted loss between 19 cents and 23 cents per share in the current quarter, wider than the expectation of a 6-cent per share loss, which analysts attribute to ramped-up store investments.
Shares of the company fell about 5% in premarket trading.
"The investments we're making are driving results across our portfolio," Spring said. "As we enter the second half of the year, we remain focused on scaling what is resonating most with customers."
Macy's now expects fiscal 2026 net sales between $21.68 billion and $21.83 billion, compared with its prior forecast of $21.50 billion to $21.75 billion. It also sees annual adjusted earnings per share of $2.15 to $2.35, compared with its previous forecast of $2.00 to $2.20 per share.
The company said its forecast still followed a "prudent approach", given a competitive landscape and macroeconomic and geopolitical factors that could influence discretionary spending.
It has received about $116 million in tariff refunds so far, Macy's said, including $18 million in the current quarter, and plans to invest most of the proceeds in its turnaround efforts and to mitigate fuel price uncertainty.
Second-quarter sales rose 1.1% to $4.87 billion, topping analysts' estimate of $4.83 billion, while adjusted profit of 40 cents per share, excluding tariff refunds of 23 cents per share, beat an expectation of 37 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Comparable sales at Bloomingdale's rose 11.3%, while Bluemercury's increased 6.2%, compared with a 1.1% rise at Macy's label stores.
"The namesake banner remains a work in progress, but five consecutive quarters of (comparable sales) growth show Macy's is building momentum beyond the strength of Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury," eMarketer analyst Suzy Davidkhanian said.
(Reporting by Neil J Kanatt in Bengaluru and Danielle Kaye in New York; Editing by Pooja Desai)
