TJX Companies (TJX) stock jumped higher Wednesday after the off-price retailer beat sales and earnings expectations for its fiscal first quarter and raised its outlook for the full year.
In the thirteen weeks ended May 4, the parent company of TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Homesense and Sierra saw revenue increase 5.9% year-over-year to $12.5 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) were up 22.4% from the year prior to 93 cents.
"I am very pleased with our first-quarter performance," TJX CEO Ernie Herrman said in a statement. “Overall comparable store sales increased 3%, at the high-end of our plan, and both profitability and earnings per share were well above our expectations."
TJX's impressive performance was driven by strong same-store sales in the U.S. across all of its brands and geographies, including 2% combined growth at TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Sierra and 4% collective growth at HomeGoods and Homesense.
"We saw comparable sales growth at every division entirely driven by customer transactions, which underscores the strength of our value proposition," Herrman said. "This also gives us confidence in our ability to gain market share across all of our geographies."
The first-quarter results satisfied analysts' expectations. According to Yahoo Finance, Wall Street had anticipated net sales of $12.5 billion and EPS of $0.87.
As a result of its strong performance in the first quarter, the discount retailer raised its EPS outlook for the full year of fiscal 2025. It now anticipates EPS in the range of $4.03 to $4.09, up from its previous range of $3.94 to $4.02.
"The second quarter is off to a good start and we see numerous opportunities for our business for the balance of the year that we plan to pursue," Herrman said. "Longer term, we are excited about the potential we see to drive customer transactions and sales, capture additional market share, and increase the profitability of TJX."
Where does TJX stock stand with analysts?
Analysts are generally optimistic toward the consumer discretionary stock. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the consensus analyst target price for TJX stock is $111.38, representing implied upside of about 7% to current levels. Meanwhile, the consensus recommendation is Buy.
Speaking for the bulls is William Blair analyst Dylan Carden, who has an Outperform (Buy) rating on TJX stock. "We believe shares continue to offer compelling value from a total return standpoint, with 1.5% dividend yield, in good position to take out roughly 5% of the market cap through buybacks, and steady earnings growth in the high single digits over the next two years," Carden says.
