Macy's Q3 Net Sales, Comps Down; To Delay Earnings Report; Stock Down In Pre-market

(RTTNews) - Department store chain Macy's Inc. (M) on Monday reported that its third-quarter net sales decreased 2.4 percent from last year to $4.742 billion. Comparable sales were down 2.4 percent on an owned basis and were down 1.3 percent on an owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace basis.

The company further said it is delaying its third-quarter earnings release to allow for completion of the independent investigation. It was found that a single employee with responsibility for small package delivery expense accounting intentionally made erroneous accounting accrual entries to hide around $132 million to $154 million of cumulative delivery expenses from the fourth quarter of 2021 through fiscal quarter ended November 2, 2024.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, Macy's shares were losing around 5.5 percent to trade at $15.40.

In its preliminary third-quarter results, the company said Macy's net sales were down 3.1 percent, with comparable sales down 3.0 percent on an owned basis and down 2.2 percent on an owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace basis. However, Macy's first 50 locations comparable sales were up 1.9 percent on both an owned basis and on an owned-plus-licensed basis as investments in staffing, merchandising, visual presentation and eventing continued to resonate with the customer.

Bloomingdale's net sales were up 1.4 percent, with comparable sales up 1.0 percent on an owned basis and up 3.2 percent on an owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace basis.

Bluemercury net sales grew 3.2 percent and comparable sales were up 3.3 percent on an owned basis.

The company noted that sales growth at Macy's First 50 locations, Bloomingdale's, and Bluemercury was offset primarily by weakness in Macy's other non-First 50 locations as well as its digital channel and cold weather categories.

The company now expects to report its full third-quarter results by December 11, and also to provide outlook at that time.