Has Macy’s Inc. turned the corner?

New York – Macy’s stores clocked their 4^th consecutive quarter of comp gains and Bloomingdale’s generated record first-quarter sales, prompting Macy’s Inc. to ratchet up its guidance for the fiscal year.

At the Macy’s stores division, sales gains were fairly broad-based, led by apparel and accessories almost across the board – although the plus-sized business was slack. The biggest laggard: big-ticket home products, especially furniture.

Regarding-big ticket home, chairman and CEO Tony Spring noted that tariffs drove up pricing, “and the consumer pushed back.” Higher interest rates and mortgage rates are also a drag on the category, he said.

Macy’s store division

• Total sales: $4.0 billion
• Comp for approx. 350 go-forward stores: +1.6% (Excludes comparison to units that closed last year)
• Comp for Reimagine stores: +2.4% (There are now 200 locations)

Bloomingdale’s division

• Total sales: $929 million
• Total comp: +10.2%

“Our customer-led focus is generating tangible results,” Spring told analysts during this morning’s quarter review call.

For the quarter ended May 2, Macy’s Inc. delivered net sales growth for the first time since emerging from pandemic in 2022.

Total company net sales – which include the Blue Mercury beauty banner – rose 1.8% to $4.7 billion, with comparable sales up 3.0%.

A Boost from Better Merchandise

Consolidated Macy’s Inc. comp sales were driven by consistent traffic and AUR growth. A slight reduction in conversion was offset by a modest bump in total basket.

AUR has been growing over the past two years at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, with consumers responding to elevated goods in the assortment. During Q1, the company engaged in less clearance activity and had fewer aged goods to move, said Spring.

“There is more in the ‘best’ bucket than in the ‘better’ or the ‘good’ bucket,” he explained. “We’re going to continue to monitor the right levels of inventory in each of the price buckets.”

Net income jumped 65.9% to $63 million, or $0.23 per share. Adjusted for restructuring costs and other one-time charges, earnings per share came in at $0.13.

Outlook Improves for Fiscal Year

In raising its guidance for the fiscal year today, Macy’s Inc. incorporated its better-than-expected Q1 performance and lifted expectations for sales growth over the balance of the remaining quarters.

The company now expects net sales in the range of $21.5 billon to $21.75 billion – up from earlier guidance of $21.4 billion to $21.65 billion. Those figures reflect the impact of fiscal 2025 store closures, which contributed approximately $145 million in annual sales last year.

The range for fiscal year comp sales was bumped up to 0.5% to 1.2% compared to previous guidance of a 0.5% decrease to a 0.5% gain.