TJX Companies (TJX) Beats Q4 Earnings & Revenue Estimates
Zacks Investment Research | Feb 26, 2020 04:36AM ET
The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) has posted fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 results, with earnings and sales rising year over year as well as surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Further, comps increased on consistent improvement in customer traffic. Moreover, management provided a positive bottom-line view for fiscal 2021. Shares of the company rose 7.8% in the pre market trading session today.
Quarterly Details
The company’s earnings were 81 cents per share, which increased 19% year over year. Further, the bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 77 cents as well as management’s guidance.
Net sales advanced about 10% year over year to $12,206.5 million and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11,867 million. Net sales growth included a neutral impact from currency movements.
Sales were backed by solid comparable store sales (comps), which gained from robust customer traffic across all segments. TJX Companies' consolidated comps rose 6% year over year.
Comps increased 4%, 10%, 6% and 5% in TJX Canada, TJX International, Marmaxx and HomeGoods segments, respectively.
Gross margin improved 0.6 percentage point (pp) to 28.4%. Selling, general and administrative costs, as a percentage of sales, rose 0.3 pp year over year to 17.5%.
Other Financial Updates
The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $3,216.8 million, long-term debt of $2,236.6 million and total shareholders’ equity of $5,948.2 million. Cash provided by operating activities for 52 weeks ended Feb 1, 2020, was $4,066.7 million.
Consolidated inventories as of February 1, 2020 on a per-store basis (including distribution centers and excluding e-commerce, inventory in transit as well as Sierra stores) increased 4% (also on a constant-currency basis) year over year. Given its impressive inventory position, the company is well poised to take advantage of solid opportunities in the holiday season.
During the reported quarter, TJX Companies returned $631 million to stockholders through dividend payouts and share buybacks. In fiscal fourth quarter, the company repurchased 5.9 million shares for $355 million and paid out dividends worth $276 million. In fiscal 2020, management paid out dividends worth $1.1 billion and repurchased 27.1 million shares for $1.5 billion.
TJX Companies intends to buy back shares worth $1.5-$1.75 billion in fiscal 2020. Further, the company unveiled a new plan to repurchase $1.75-$2.25 billion worth of TJX stock during fiscal 2021.
The company opened 223 stores in fiscal 2020, taking the total count to 4,529.
Get The News You Want
Fiscal 2021 & Q1 Guidance
For fiscal 2021, TJX Companies projects earnings per share (EPS) in the range of $2.77-$2.83, which indicates growth of 4-6% from $2.67 per share reported a year ago. Further, it expects consolidated and Marmaxx comps growth in the range of 2-3%.
For the first quarter, the company expects earnings in the band of 59-60 cents per share. The projected figure calls for a rise from 57 cents reported in the year-ago quarter. TJX Companies consolidated comps growth of 2-3% for the quarter. It anticipates comps at Marmaxx to increase in the same range.
Price Performance
We note that this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has gained 12.7% in the past six months compared with the industry ’s growth of 12.4%.
Don’t Miss These Solid Retail Bets
Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL) , with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has long-term EPS growth rate of 15.1%. You can see Zacks Investment Research
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.