Nordstrom Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) said Thursday after the markets closed that its second quarter profit rose 3.6% from last year, as sales increased 9%.

The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue. At the same time, the company lowered its full year earnings outlook to reflect the impact of the Trunk Club acquisition, which is expected to reduce earnings per share in fiscal 2014 by about 3%.

Nordstrom shares are currently gaining 2.18% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $73.25, up 40 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $54.90 to $73.94.

Nordstrom operates 293 stores, including 118 full-line stores, 167 Nordstrom Racks, two Jeffrey boutiques and one clearance store.

For the third quarter ended November 1, 2014, the Seattle, Washington-based company reported net income of $142 million or $0.73 per share, compared to $137 million or $0.69 per share for the year-ago quarter.

On average, 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.71 per share for the third quarter.

The company completed its $357 million acquisition of Trunk Club in August. In the third quarter, the impact of the acquisition reduced earnings per share by $0.04, of which $0.03 represented purchase accounting charges related to performance incentives, amortization of intangible assets and deal costs and $0.01 related to the issuance of shares.

Net sales for the third quarter rose 9% to $3.04 billion from $2.79 billion in the same quarter last year. Total company same-store sales for the third quarter increased 3.9%. Nordstrom same-store sales, which consist of the full-line and Direct businesses, increased 3.4%.

Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, decreased 33 basis points compared with the same period last year, due to Nordstrom Rack's accelerated store expansion and increased competitive markdowns.

Total revenue for the third quarter grew 9% to $3.14 billion from $2.88 billion a year ago. Twenty-two analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $3.10 billion for the third quarter.

Looking forward, the company lowered its full fiscal year 2014 earnings outlook to a range of $3.70 to $3.75 per share from its prior outlook of $3.80 to $3.90 per share. The company now expects full year sales growth of about 7.5%, compared to its prior outlook of 6.5% to 7.5%.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn $3.86 per share on revenue growth of 7.00% for the fiscal year 2014.