10:24 AM EDT, 05/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Macy's (M) lifted its full-year earnings outlook on Tuesday after the department store operator's fiscal first-quarter bottom-line topped market expectations.

The company now anticipates per-share adjusted earnings to come in between $2.55 and $2.90 for the ongoing year, up from its prior forecast of $2.45 to $2.85. The consensus on Capital IQ is for normalized EPS of $2.63.

Sales are pegged at $22.3 billion to $22.9 billion, marking an increase from the prior low end of $22.2 billion. The Street is looking for $22.52 billion. The company estimates comparable owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace sales to be in a range of down 1% to up 1.5% year over year, updating the prior outlook's low end that called for a 1.5% decline.

"We are raising our annual EPS outlook and narrowing our sales range to reflect a portion of our first-quarter earnings beat," Chief Financial Officer Adrian Mitchell said during an earnings call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. "While we are encouraged by recent results and early traction of our bold new chapter strategy, we're also cognizant of the dynamic macro environment we are operating in."

For the three months through May 4, Macy's reported adjusted EPS of $0.27, down from $0.56 the year before, but ahead of the Street's view for $0.17. Sales slipped 2.7% to $4.85 billion.

Comparable sales moved 1.2% lower on an owned basis, compared with four Capital IQ-polled analysts' forecast for a 3.2% drop. By brand, Macy's comparable sales slid 1.6% on an owned basis while Bloomingdale's edged down 0.8%. Bluemercury comparable sales gained 4.3%.

"At the Macy's nameplate, go-forward business performance was led by our First 50 locations, which achieved comparable sales growth year over year and are a leading indicator for our go-forward fleet," Chief Executive Tony Spring said in a statement. "Although early days, our investments in product, presentation and experience are gaining traction and reinforce our belief that longer-term, Macy's Inc. can return to sustainable, profitable growth."

For the ongoing quarter, the company expects adjusted EPS of $0.25 to $0.33 and sales of $4.97 billion to $5.1 billion, Mitchell told analysts on the call. The Street is looking for normalized EPS of $0.22 and $5.03 billion in revenue.

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