Tiffany’s, Signet Jewelers and Movado each reported their earnings before the market opened on Tuesday and all three disappointed investors.
Tiffany’s stock closed up over 3 percent to $79.32 after the company with the little blue box missed its third-quarter earnings estimate and cut its outlook. Tiffany’s reported third-quarter earnings per share of 70 cents, which was lower than the FactSet estimate of 75 cents per share. Sales came in at $938 million, also short of the consensus of $971 million. Net earnings were $91 million versus last year’s net earnings of $38 million.
Frederic Cumenal, chief executive officer, said, “As expected, the strong U.S. dollar continued to put pressure on our financial results, specifically from the translation of non-U.S. sales into dollars and on foreign tourist spending in the U.S. In addition, we believe that volatile, uncertain economic and market conditions in the U.S. and other regions are affecting consumer spending, causing us to maintain a cautious near-term outlook.
In the Americas, total sales and comparable-store sales in the third quarter fell 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The company continues to experience healthy sales growth in China and Australia, while sales dropped in Hong Kong and Macau. Japan’s sales increased 17 percent as reported in U.S. dollars. In Europe, total sales declined 2 percent when reported in U.S. dollars.
The continuing drop in precious metals prices favored the company’s raw costs, pushing gross margins as a percentage of net sales up to 60.2 percent from 59.5 percent a year ago. Plus, the strong dollar caused Tiffany’s to raise prices. The company also saw a shift in the sales mix to higher-priced, but lower-margin products and higher wholesale sales of diamonds.
Due to the negative effects of the strong dollar and the increasing uncertainties in the global markets, Tiffany’s cut its outlook. The jeweler now expects net earnings in the year ending Jan. 31, 2016, to be 5 to 10 percent below last year’s $4.20 per diluted share.
Signet Jewelers stock price slid after missing on its earnings and revenues for the third quarter. Signet delivered third-quarter EPS of 33 cents, which was worse than the FactSet consensus of 39 cents. Sales were reported at $1.216 billion, also shy of the consensus of $1.229 billion. Other operating income was $60.9 million, an increase of 13.8 percent over last year’s $53.5 million.
Kay Jewelers seemed to be the most successful as transactions dropped, but the average price per transaction climbed 3 percent. Zales transactions increased, but the average price dropped. Piercing Pagoda’s transaction prices increased 11 percent, but the number of transactions remained flat.
“Signet delivered another quarter of continued growth, highlighted by a same-store sales increase of 3.3 percent and adjusted earnings per share growth of 57.1 percent,” commented Mark Light, ceo of Signet Jewelers. “We are pleased to report strong sales growth in line with our third quarter guidance. We also delivered excellent earnings growth, although earnings were affected by a modest margin impact due to a sales mix shift from Jared to Kay.”
Light added that the company was seeing an encouraging start to November at Jared and Zales. The company did guide analysts to the low-end of its earnings range for the fourth quarter. The company now expects EPS in the range of $3.40 to $3.60 down from the previous estimate of $3.58.
Movado joined its peers by also missing its third-quarter estimates. The luxury watch company reported third-quarter earnings of 92 cents per share, a penny shy of the FactSet estimate of 93 cents per share. Revenue fell 1.6 percent year-over-year to $185.6 million and missing the estimate of $190 million. Operating income of $33.5 million barely beat last year’s $33.3 million.
Efraim Grinberg, chairman and ceo, stated, “We are pleased with our third-quarter results, which reflect the successful execution of our growth and efficiency strategies during an extremely challenging retail environment. Our solid results were driven by both Movado and our licensed brands portfolio which continue to outperform the overall watch category at retail.
Movado reaffirmed its guidance for fiscal year earnings in the range of $2.00 to $2.10 versus the consensus of $2.04. Movado now expects net income for fiscal 2016 in the range of $47.5 million to $50 million. Movado stock has fallen over 15 percent year-to-date, but closed up over 4 percent to $25.16.