Shoppers enter a Nordstrom department store on March 3, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
nordstrom The company raised its full-year sales outlook on Friday after holiday sales at its stores and website exceeded department stores’ cautious expectations.
The company maintained its profit outlook despite the increased sales outlook.
The Seattle-based retailer said it expects full-year revenue to increase 1.5% to 2.5%, including the impact of one less fiscal year. week. This compares with previous forecasts of flat to 1% growth.
Nordstrom offered a modest outlook in late November, even though third-quarter sales beat Wall Street expectations. The company expected full-year sales to be flat to 1% higher. The company expects adjusted earnings for this year to be in the range of $1.75 to $2.05 per share. Revenue includes retail sales and credit card revenue.
In an earnings call at the time, CEO Eric Nordstrom said the company was seeing a “noticeable decline in sales trends toward the end of October” and had factored that into its forecasts.
But in a news release Friday, he attributed better-than-expected holiday sales to the company’s “efforts to remain competitive in the promotional environment and the strength of our services.”
Nordstrom said net sales for the nine-week holiday period that ended Jan. 4 increased 4.9%, compared with the same period last year that ended Dec. 4, with comparable sales excluding the impact of store openings and closings. It is said that it increased by 5.8%. 30.
During the holiday period, Nordstrom Banner net sales increased 3.7% and like-for-like sales increased 6.5%. Net sales of the company’s off-price Nordstrom Rack products increased 7.4%, while comparable sales increased 4.3%.
The department store operator’s results provide more insight for investors who are monitoring the health of U.S. consumers and retailers’ performance during the major shopping season. Retail companies such as Walmart, Best Buy, and Macy’s will announce their financial results starting in late February.
So far, early holiday numbers look promising. U.S. online spending rose nearly 9% year over year from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, totaling $241.4 billion, according to Adobe Analytics. According to Mastercard Spending Pulse, which measures in-store and online sales by payment method, U.S. holiday retail sales, excluding auto sales, were the highest in the prior year for the period Nov. 1 to Dec. 24. This was an increase of 3.8% compared to the same period.
The Nordstrom update comes as the founding family prepares to take the retailer private. In late December, Nordstrom announced a roughly $6.25 billion acquisition deal between the family and Mexican department store El Puerto de Liverpool. The transaction has been approved by the company’s board of directors and is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
Nordstrom stock closed at $24.01, down about 4% from its 52-week high. The company is scheduled to announce its fourth quarter and full year financial results on March 4th.
