Retail Pulse: Hackers, USD Strength And Offensive Merchandise
Estimize | Nov 18, 2014 01:36PM ET
After Monday’s closing bell, Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) showed they are still struggling to attract shoppers at its namesake stores. Earnings per share for the third quarter came in at a lousy $0.35, $0.10 lower than the Estimize consensus, showing a decline of 26% YoY. Record revenues for the quarter also slightly missed the consensus, reporting $814.5M vs. expectations for $823.3M. Growth at two of the retailer’s brands helped to offset some of the weakness, with same store sales increasing 15% at Free People and 2% at Anthropologie, but falling 7% at Urban Outfitters. The poor showing came as a result of lower initial merchandise markup followed by higher markdowns; recent criticism regarding offensive merchandise could partially be to blame. Despite the disappointing results, CEO is Richard Hayne is encouraged by “positive signs as shown by strong results at the brand’s direct-to-consumer channel.” The direct-to-consumer business typically includes internet and catalog sales.
Tuesday morning we saw results from two more retailers, TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD). TJX Companies, the parent company of TJ Maxx, Home Goods and Marshalls, reported Q3 EPS of $0.85, just slightly below the Estimize consensus of $0.86, an increase of 13% YoY. Revenues of $7.37B also missed estimates by $113M, but increased 6% from Q3 2013. While the movement of foreign currency exchange rates had a neutral impact on sales growth in Q3, the company is lowering fourth quarter guidance to reflect a negative impact . Fourth quarter EPS is now expected to be in a range of $0.86 - $0.90; “this guidance assumes an expected $0.02 negative impact from foreign currency exchange rates,”… “as well as a $0.02 per share negative impact due to a combination of additional expenses and investments for the future.”
Despite a large data breach experienced during the third quarter, Home Depot was still able to put up decent results due to strength across all geographies. The home improvement retailer reported Q3 EPS of $1.15 meeting the Estimize consensus and showing YoY profit growth of 21%. Revenues of $20.52B beat expectations of $20.47B and grew 5% from the year-ago quarter, while same store sales increased 5.2%. With that said, the company is still trying to determine the total cost of the consumer data breach. Pre-tax expenses for the quarter totaled $28M, and the company estimates that total breach-related costs could be as high as $34M and will negatively impact fourth-quarter results. Home Depot reaffirmed its 2014 EPS guidance of approximately $4.54 a share, with sales expected to grow about 4.8%for the year.
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Expectations for S&P 500 earnings growth for the third quarter stand at 11.7%. Revenues are anticipated to come in with 4.9% growth. All 10 sectors are anticipated to post positive YoY growth on both the earnings and revenue front.
h3 Leaders/h3
Earnings:
- Consumer Discretionary (14.3%). Notable industry: Internet Retailers (25.3%)
- Energy (14.3%). Notable industry: Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels (14.6%)
- Health Care (13.9%). Notable industry: Biotechnology (45.1%)
Revenues:
- Health Care (12.1%). Notable industry: Biotech (39.0%).
- Information Technology (7.1%). Notable industry: Software (15.7%)
Earnings:
- Utilities (2.8%). Notable industry: Gas Utilities (-8.3%).
- Telecommunication Services (1.4%): All five companies are within Diversified Telecom Services. Only Verizon posted YoY growth.
Revenues:
- Energy (1.2%). Notable industry: Oil, Gas and Consumable Fuels (0.5%).
- Materials (2.4%). Notable industry: Paper & Forest Products (-18.3%).
Earnings: With 93% of the S&P 500 reporting thus far, 56% have beaten the Estimize consensus, 34% have missed and 10% have met. This is compared to Wall Street estimates, of which 71% of companies have beat on the bottom-line, 21% have missed and 8% have met.
Revenue: 52% have beaten the Estimize consensus, 48% have missed, and 0% have met. For revenues, 58% of companies have beat the Wall Street estimate, while 42% have missed.
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