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- Tiffany & Co soared more than 14% in pre-market trading Wednesday after reporting first-quarter results that beat expectations.
- Same-store sales of 7% easily topped analysts' 2.6% estimate.
- The jewelry company boosted its fiscal year guidance and announced the approval of a $1 billion buyback program.
- Watch Tiffany & Co trade in real-time here.
Tiffany & Co is soaring, up more than 14% in pre-market trading Wednesday, after releasing first-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations and raising guidance for the fiscal year.
The iconic jewelry store reported earnings of $1.14 per share, surpassing the $0.83 estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Total comp sales of 7% more than doubled the estimated 2.6%. Worldwide net sales grew to $1 billion during the quarter, beating the $959 million estimate.
"We are very pleased with this start to the fiscal year, and we are particularly encouraged by the breadth of sales growth across most regions and all product categories," CEO Alessandro Bogliolo said in the earnings release.
Even when adjusting for currency exchange rates, every geographic region other than Europe saw increases in comparable sales. The Asia-Pacific region in particular saw net sales rise 28% due to increased retail sales in China and higher wholesales in Korea, driven by increased spending from local customers and foreign tourists. The company noted comparable sales in Europe declined due to lower spending by foreign tourists and new stores cutting into existing store sales. A decline in the wholesale of diamonds also weighed a bit on net sales.
Tiffany & Co boosted its fiscal year earnings guidance to $4.50-$4.70 from $4.25-$4.45. The Board of Directors approved share repurchases of up to $1 billion through open market transactions, which includes $250 million worth of buybacks through an accelerated share repurchase transaction.
Tiffany & Co is up more than 10% this year.
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