T.J. Maxx has finally jumped back on the e-commerce bandwagon, but the investor excitement in parent company TJX that the endeavor has brought will likely be cooled by the company’s latest earnings report.
TJX, which also owns Marshalls and HomeGoods, released its third quarter earnings Tuesday (Nov. 18), revealing mixed results against analysts’ predictions for the firm. The firm reported $7.36 billion in third quarter sales – up 6 percent compared with the same period last year, but down from earlier predictions of $7.44 billion.
While CEO Carol Meyrowitz said she is “pleased” with the earnings report, TJX stocks dropped more than 2 percent following the report. TJX also projected between 86 cents and 90 cents per share for fourth quarter earnings, down from Wall Street predictions of 94 cents per share.
Mediocre stats could prove to be a disappointment for investors who hoped to see a boost by TJX’s ecommerce efforts. The company revamped its latest online shopping effort six years after its first attempt, launching tjmaxx.tjx.com in September.
It’s too soon to tell whether online shoppers will flock to the store’s discounted prices online and boost TJX’s numbers, however, and analysts note that TJX had little choice but to rejoin the online retail game to compete with rivals. But the company appears to still depend on foot traffic.
“We are particularly pleased that customer traffic continued to gain momentum in the third quarter despite unusually warm weather, which we believe dampened sales throughout TJX Europe starting in September and hurt Marmaxx in October,” Meyrowitz said.
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