Tiffany Beats Street 2Q forecasts

Tiffany & Co. on Thursday reported improved second-quarter results, with its sales and net income both posting gains.

The New York-based luxury jeweler reported net income of $115 million, or 92 cents per share, compared with $105.7 million, or 84 cents per share, a year ago.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 88 cents per share.

The company posted revenue growth of 3 percent to $959.7 million in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $933.2 million. Tiffany credited the growth to higher sales of wholesale diamonds, stronger wholesale sales in Asia-Pacific and strong e-commerce sales growth.

However, sales in stores open at least a year, a key metric of a retailer’s health, declined 2 percent during the quarter.

Jefferies analyst Randal Konik said the results show Tiffany’s stores in the Americas are stabilizing, and high-margin fashion jewelry sales are gaining momentum.

Tiffany officials said customer traffic returned to normal levels at the chain’s flagship New York store that experienced disruption last fall because of security around President Donald Trump’s personal home and offices on the same block.

For the full fiscal year, the retailer forecast growth in its adjusted earnings per share in the mid-single-digits-percentage with sales up in the low-single-digit percentage.

Tiffany shares ended Thursday down $1.17, or 1.3 percent, at $87.55. They have climbed 13 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 9 percent. The stock has increased 27 percent in the last 12 months.