Tiffany’s quarterly results sparkled — this time with a tinge of yellow.
The swanky New York jeweler notched a 50-percent surge in third-quarter profit, partly citing operating margins that were goosed by strong demand for high-priced baubles bedizened with yellow diamonds.
Tiffany shares hit a 52-week high of $88.88 on the news before settling at $88.02, up 8.7 percent.
However, the luxe retailer admitted that the quarter’s strength more broadly came from cost cuts and brisk demand in the Asia-Pacific region, where comparable sales soared 22 percent.
By comparison, business in the US and Europe was sluggish, fueling doubts about the prospects for the crucial holiday season.
In the Americas, Tiffany eked out a 1 percent comparable-sales increase, propped up by the company’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue, where overseas tourists fueled sales accounting for about 8 percent of the domestic business.
“In the US there was softness along much of the East Coast, strength along the West Coast and there was substantial sales declines in Hawaii and Guam, due to lower Japanese tourist sales likely tied to weaker yen,” Tiffany spokesman Mark Aaron said.
Comparable sales in Europe rose just 2 percent, missing analysts’ forecasts for a 3.5 percent increase.