Shares of The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) moved 2.8% higher on Wednesday after the off-price retail giant delivered third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
TJX reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.28, surpassing analyst estimates of $1.23. Quarterly revenue came in at $15.1 billion, ahead of the $14.84 billion consensus and 7% higher than the same period last year. Comparable store sales rose 5%, a standout performance relative to the company’s own projections.
CEO and President Ernie Herrman praised the quarter’s execution, saying, “I am extremely pleased with our third quarter performance and the excellent execution of our off-price business model by our teams across the Company. Sales, pretax profit margin, and earnings per share all exceeded our expectations.”
Pretax profit margin hit 12.7%, surpassing internal forecasts and rising 40 basis points year over year. Gross margin improved to 32.6%, up 1 percentage point, helped by stronger merchandise margins and better operating leverage.
All business segments posted solid comparable sales:
- TJX Canada: +8%
- Marmaxx (U.S.): +6%
- HomeGoods (U.S.): +5%
- TJX International: +3%
The company returned $1.1 billion to shareholders during the quarter through repurchases and dividends, including the buyback of 4.2 million shares for $594 million and dividend payouts totaling $472 million.
Looking ahead, management reaffirmed full-year comparable sales growth of 4% and raised its outlook for full-year pretax profit margin to 11.6%. For the fourth quarter, TJX projects comp sales growth of 2%–3% and EPS between $1.33 and $1.36, slightly below the analyst consensus of $1.37.