In the latest sign that the luxury market is rebounding, Nordstrom raised its fiscal 2010 forecast after reporting that its first-quarter profit rose 44 percent on increased store traffic and higher sales.
Still, the company’s shares fell about 2.6 percent to $40.35 in after-hours trading, because profits fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The company’s stock has more than doubled since July of 2009, when it hit a low below $19.
For the quarter ended May 1, the Seattle-based department-store chain reported earnings of $116 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with $81 million, or 37 cents a share, a year earlier. Margins improved by 2.4 percentage points, as the company sold more merchandise at full price.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share earnings of 55 cents for the quarter, and are projecting $2.61 per share for the full year.
For fiscal 2010, Nordstrom raised its previous earnings outlook of $2.35 to $2.55 per share to a new range of $2.50 to $2.65. It predicts that same store sales will rise between 4 percent and 6 percent for the year.