Macy's loss narrows as coronavirus stress eases

Macy’s Inc. loss narrowed during the second quarter as locations began to reopen from their COVID-19-induced lockdowns.

The Cincinnati-based department store chain lost $431 million, or an adjusted 81 cents per share, as revenue sank 36% year-over-year to $3.56 billion. The results outpaced the $1.77 per share loss and $3.47 billion of revenue that Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refintiv were anticipating.

Macy’s lost $3.58 billion during the previous quarter.

“Restarting our stores was our top priority, and we successfully accomplished that while also ensuring that our digital business remained strong,” CEO Jeff Gennette said in a statement. “We are encouraged by our second quarter performance; however, we continue to approach the back half of the year conservatively.”

A faster-than-expected recovery of in-store sales and continued strength in digital sales resulted in comparable sales falling 35% on both an owned basis and owned plus licensed basis. Digital sales rose 53% versus a year ago.

Strong sales resulted in inventory falling 29% from a year ago, which left the company in a “clean inventory position.”

The company had $1.4 billion cash and access to $3 billion through an unused credit facility.

Macy’s previously withdrew its guidance and did not provide an update due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

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Shares were down 59% this year through Tuesday, lagging the S&P 500’s 9.16% gain. Macy's was removed from the index in April.