Macy’s raises full-year outlook after strong third-quarter sales

Macy’s, the beleaguered department store chain, reported rosy third-quarter sales Thursday and raised its sales and earnings forecast for the year, in a positive signal for retailers that struggled during the pandemic.

The company said its sales for the three months ended Oct 30 were $5.4 billion, and it posted a net profit of $239 million. Comparable sales rose 37% from the same period last year and about 9% from 2019. Macy’s noted that a Friends and Family event fell into the third quarter this year from the fourth quarter in 2019.

Retail sales overall jumped 1.7% in October, the third monthly increase, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, a sign of the strength of the US economic recovery from pandemic restrictions. Walmart and Home Depot each reported quarterly earnings this week that topped Wall Street’s expectations.

Retailers like Macy’s, which also owns Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, are benefiting as customers resume social activities and gear up for a busier holiday season than last year, when the country was in the depths of the pandemic and before vaccines were widely available.

The company said that its downtown stores had yet to recover as tourism remained depressed and many office workers continued to work remotely.

The company, which is trying to accelerate its digital sales, separately said Thursday that it would introduce an online marketplace next year with third-party merchants.

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