A Citibike docking station outside the Nordstrom flagship store in New York, US, on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.
Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Northstream on Thursday fell short of Wall Street's quarterly expectations as off-price chain Rack outperformed the rest of its stores.
Despite the earnings miss, the Seattle-based department store operator posted sales growth and stayed on track with full-year expectations.
Here's what the retailer reported for its first fiscal quarter, compared to what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Loss per share: 24 cents versus 8 cents expected
- Gain: $3.34 billion versus $3.20 billion expected
Nordstrom shares fell about 7% in extended trading.
Nordstrom has leaned on its off-price chain, Nordstrom Rack, to drive growth. It opened more Rack stores, including nine during the quarter. It is on track to open a total of 22 new Rack stores this year.
Yet Rack, which offers brand names at lower prices, has lagged behind competitors like TJ Maxx, owned by TJX and Marshalls.
However, in the quarter the off-price chain showed signs of progress. It outperformed Nordstrom's flagship brand, with comparable sales increasing 7.9% year over year. Comparable sales of the company's flagship brand increased by 1.8%.
The retailer reaffirmed that it expects full-year profits of $1.65 to $2.05. Nordstrom expects full-year sales to range between a 2 percent decline and a 1 percent increase from the previous year.
For the first fiscal quarter, Nordstrom posted a net loss of $39 million, compared to a net loss of $205 million in the year-ago period. The company's total revenue rose to $3.34 billion from $3.18 billion last year.
Nordstrom said active children's and women's apparel saw strong double-digit growth this quarter compared to the previous year. Sales of beauty products also rose by high single digits, the company said.
The results come as the Nordstrom family is once again considering taking the company private. Last month it said it had formed a special committee to review bids.
The company's quarterly results Thursday were the first since former Chairman Bruce Nordstrom, the father of CEO Erik Nordstrom and President Pete Nordstrom, died earlier this month.
Nordstrom, like its department store rivals, is trying to win over young consumers because it relies on older customers.
