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Macy’s Inc. beat its own expectations for top and bottom line second-quarter results, lifted by investments in top Macy’s doors and solid performances at Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury.
With its executives pleased by the Q2 showing, the corporation raised its sales and profit guidance for 2025.
Macy’s Inc. net sales in the second quarter ended Aug. 2 decreased 2.5 percent to $4.8 billion, but that included store closings. Comparable sales grew 1.9 percent, marking the retailer’s best same-store sales growth in 12 quarters and exceeding the company’s guidance.
Net income was $87 million, and adjusted net income was $113 million. That compares to net income of $150 million and adjusted net income of $149 million in the year-ago period.
In pre-market trading Wednesday morning, Macy’s stock was up about 4 percent, or $0.58, to $14.08.
By division, Macy’s net sales, inclusive of store closures, were down 3.8 percent. Comparable sales were up 1.2 percent. Macy’s go-forward business comparable sales were up 1.5 percent.
Macy’s “reimagined” 125 department stores, where the company has been investing to improve service and staffing in high-traffic areas such as women’s shoes and fitting rooms, visual merchandising, and events achieved comparable sales growth of 1.4 percent.
Bloomingdale’s net sales were up 4.6 percent. Comparable sales were up 5.7 percent. It was the upscale department store’s fourth consecutive quarter of growth.
Bluemercury’s net sales were up 3.3 percent. Comparable sales were up 1.2 percent.
“Our teams achieved better-than-expected top and bottom line results during the second quarter, driven by our strongest comparable sales growth in 12 quarters, reflecting the strong performance in Macy’s ‘re-imagined’ 125 locations, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury,” Tony Spring, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s Inc., said in a statement Wednesday morning.
“Our performance highlights the advantages of being a multi-brand, multi-category, omni-channel retailer,” Spring added. “The substantive, enterprise-wide improvements across our business, with a strong focus on customer experience, give us further confidence that our Bold New Chapter initiatives can drive sustainable, long-term profitable growth.”
The company’s three-year Bold New Chapter strategy, introduced in February 2024, calls for closing 150 Macy’s stores, accelerating growth in the luxury sector, opening about 15 Bloomies stores, which are smaller, more specialized versions of the full-line Bloomingdale’s department stores; opening at least 30 new Bluemercury stores, and remodeling about 30 Bluemercury stores.
Tony Spring
Phillip Angert, courtesy shot
In other Q2 results:
- Merchandise inventories decreased 0.8 percent year-over-year.
- The company returned $100 million to shareholders, including $50 million in quarterly dividends and $50 million in share repurchases.
- Gross margin rate of 39.7 percent declined 80 basis points “reflecting proactive markdowns on remaining early spring product to maintain healthy inventories and product bought under prior tariff rates.”
- The company ended the second quarter of 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of $829 million and had $2 billion of available borrowing capacity under its asset-based credit facility. During July and August, the company completed a series of financing transactions to further fortify its balance sheet, increase financial flexibility and modestly reduce leverage, which resulted in a net reduction of long-term debt of about $340 million.
Macy’s Inc. raised its sales outlook for 2025 a bit, to between $21.15 billion and $21.45 billion, from the previous forecast of between $21 billion and $21.4 billion. Comparable sales are now projected at down 1.5 percent to down 0.5 percent, from the previous forecast of down 2 percent to down 0.5 percent.
Adjusted diluted earning per share are now seen reaching $1.70 to $2.05, versus the previous projection of $1.60 to $2.
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