Macy's beats on earnings despite sliding sales
The retailer posted adjusted earnings of $2.02 per share, higher than the $1.96 per share expected by analysts.
In addition, comparable sales - or those at stores open longer than a year - fell by 2.1% from the same quarter the year before, but was a bit better than the 2.2% fall expected by analysts.
The company also released preliminary guidance for 2017, expecting a sales decline at all owned and licensed stores by 2% to 3% for the full year.
"While 2016 was not the year we expected, we made significant progress on key initiatives that are starting to bear fruit," said CEO Terry Lundgren in the company's earnings release.
"These include continued improvement in our digital platforms, the rollout of our new approach to fine jewelry and women's shoes, an increase in exclusive merchandise and the refinement of our clearance and off-price strategy. We also took a big step forward in rightsizing our physical footprint and restructuring our entire organization."
Following the news, Macy's stocked popped 2.8% in pre-market trading as of 8:09 a.m. ET to $33.20 a share.
