NEW YORK — Macy’s sales and profit slipped in its first quarter and the department store, citing more cautious customers and the impact that the U.S. trade war will have on the company and its shoppers, trimmed its profit forecast for 2025.
However, the New York retailer which also owns upscale Bloomingdale’s and the Bluemercury cosmetics chain, topped most performance expectations for the first three months of the year and maintained its sales forecast for the year.
Shares rose more than 4% before the market opened Wednesday.
Macy’s sales dropped to $4.79 billion from $5 billion a year earlier, better than the $4.42 billion that analysts polled by FactSet expected.
Comparable sales, which include online channels, dipped 2%. Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury both saw comparable sales growth.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, noted Bloomingdale’s 3% comparable sales growth.
“Good execution from Bloomingdale’s and its balanced assortment of luxury and prestige products has served it well,” he said. “This is especially so compared to chains that play much more exclusively in the very high-price arena, which have lost customers and seen an erosion of spending.”
“Our first quarter results give us confidence that we have the right strategy and team in place to navigate the current environment while we continue to invest in our customer on the path to returning Macy’s, Inc. to sustainable profitable growth,” Chairman and CEO Tony Spring said in a statement on Wednesday.
For the period ended May 3, Macy’s earned $38 million, or 13 cents per share. That compares with $62 million, or 22 cents per share, a year ago.
Stripping out certain items, earnings were 16 cents per share, which topped Wall Street’s estimate by a penny.
The company still anticipates 2025 sales in a range of $21 billion to $21.4 billion. It now expects full-year adjusted earnings between $1.60 and $2 per share. Its prior forecast was for an adjusted profit of $2.05 to $2.25 per share.
Industry analysts had been projecting full-year sales of $21.03 billion and an adjusted per-share profit of $1.91.
Macy’s and other retailers are wrestling with uncertainty about tariffs that’s making it hard to plan, while contending with customers who seem to have the same issues and are pulling back on spending.
Teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters withdrew its financial outlook for the year earlier this month citing “macro uncertainty” and said it would write down $75 million in spring and summer merchandise.
Ross Stores did the same last week.
Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, got a public scolding from President Donald Trump after it said this month that it has already raised prices on some items and would have to do so again right when the back-to-school shopping season kicks off. Trump told the retail giant that it should “eat” the additional costs created by his tariffs.
Target Corp. announced last week that sales fell more than expected in the first quarter, and the retailer warned they will slip for all of 2025 as its customers, worried over the impact of tariffs and the economy, pull back on spending. The company said that it should be able to offset the majority of the impacts from tariffs.
Trump’s threatened 145% import taxes on Chinese goods were reduced to 30% in a deal announced May 12, with some of the higher tariffs on pause for 90 days. Trump on Friday threatened a 50% tax on all imports from the European Union as well as a 25% tariff on smartphones unless those products are made in America.
But then on Sunday, Trump said that the U.S. will delay implementation of a 50% tariff on goods from the EU from June 1 until July 9 to buy time for negotiations with the bloc.
Macy’s executives emphasized in March during the last earnings call that the company is facing lots of unpredictability given ever-changing tariff policies. But the company is focusing on what it can control and zeroing in on improving its merchandise and services.
Company executives told analysts on the earnings call in March that Macy’s has been working with its suppliers to increase variety and reduce redundant styles, while adding more exclusive offerings. It’s also focusing on improving its store label brand.
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