In Wednesday trading, shares Tiffany & Co. (TIF, Financial) jumped more than 20% after reporting first-quarter earnings of $1.14 on revenue of $1.03 billion. The company managed to beat revenue estimations by $71.83 million and earnings estimates by 31 cents.
By regions, in the Americas, total net sales increased 9% to $425 million and comparable sales rose 9%. In Asia-Pacific, total net sales increased 28% to $329 million driven by more retail sales in Greater China and comparable sales rose 14%. In Japan, total net sales rose 17% to $151 million and comparable sales rose 14%, too. In Europe, total net sales increased 13% to $107 million, and comparable sales rose 2%.
Further, the gross margin, as a percentage of net sales, increased to 63.0% in the first quarter from 62.1% in the prior year, principally due to a reduction in wholesale sales of diamonds.
Looking ahead, the company expects worldwide net sales increasing by a high-single-digit percentage. Also, it expects net earnings to increase to a range of $4.50 to $4.70 per diluted share.
Shares of Target Corp. (TGT, Financial) fell on weak results in the first quarter. The company reported earnings of $1.32 on revenue of $16.78 billion. The company beat revenue estimates by $280 million, but fell short estimates by 6 cents.
"We're very pleased that our business continued to generate strong traffic and sales growth in the first quarter, as we made significant progress in support of our long-term strategic initiatives," said Brian Cornell, the company's chairman and CEO.
Now, the company expects second quarter comparable sales growth to accelerate into the low to mid single-digit range. It expects both GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations and adjusted earnings per share of $1.30 to $1.50, compared $1.22 in the first quarter 2017. For the full-year 2018, the company expects a low-single digit increase in comparable sales, and both GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations and adjusted earnings per share of $5.15 to $5.45.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in any stocks mentioned.
