By Senad Karaahmetovic
Macy's (NYSE:M) reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter, which paved the way for the company to raise its full-year forecast. Macy's shares are up over 7% in pre-open Thursday.
Macy's reported an EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $5.23 billion, beating the consensus that called for an EPS of $0.19 on revenue of $5.20B. The company said its inventories are up 4% compared to 2021.
Adrian Mitchell, Macy's CFO, said the company currently has "appropriate levels of inventory, a strong balance sheet with ample liquidity, investment grade credit metrics and fixed interest rate debt in a rising interest rate environment."
While Macy's reaffirmed its full-year revenue forecast, it boosted its EPS outlook to a range of $4.07-4.27, up from the prior $4.00-4.20 and ahead of the $4.10 consensus.
Citi analysts weighed positively on the result, although they noted that the implied Q4 EPS guidance is still below the consensus.
"We expect the stock to be up based on the 3Q beat. It will depend on mgmt. comments and tone on the earnings call as to whether the 4Q outlook is viewed as conservative or not (which may influence the direction of the stock)," the analysts said in a flash note.