Macy’s Posts Second-Quarter EPS Miss

Macy's Inc cut its full-year same-store sales forecast, after second-quarter sales failed to make up for weakness in the first quarter when harsh weather kept shoppers away.

Macy's earnings for the quarter ended Aug. 2 also missed the average analyst estimate.

"...Many customers still are not feeling comfortable about spending more in an uncertain economic environment," Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said in a statement on Wednesday.

Shares of the company, which also owns the high-end Bloomingdale's chain, were down 5 percent in premarket trading.

Macy's said it expects same-store sales to increase 1.5 percent to 2 percent for the full year. It had earlier forecast an increase of 2.5 percent to 3 percent.

The company stuck to its full-year earnings forecast of $4.40 to $4.50 per share.

Macy's stores sell clothing, accessories, jewelry and home goods to mainly middle-class shoppers.

The company, which has remodeled many stores, including its flagship Herald Square store in Manhattan, plans a series of promotions and discounts for the important back-to-school season as it tries to make up for lost sales.

Same-store sales, which include sales at macys.com and bloomingdales.com, rose 3.4 percent in the second quarter.

Net income rose to $292 million, or 80 cents per share, from $281 million, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 3.3 percent to $6.27 billion, after declining about 2 percent in each of the previous two quarters.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 86 cents per share on revenue of $6.3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the company closed at $59.76 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Up to Tuesday's close, the stock had gained about 12 percent this year.