Macy’s, Inc. (M) stock surged today after the retail and e-commerce operator reported results for the first quarter of 2021 and raised guidance for fiscal 2021. In a separate press release, Macy's announced its plan to launch a curated digital marketplace.
The company, which owns and operates brands such as Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, announced adjusted diluted EPS of $1.23 - a massive increase from the loss of $0.19 per share in the third quarter of 2020.
Macy's reported net sales of $5.4 billion, a 37% increase from the same period in 2019.
Digital Growth
The company reported encouraging e-commerce numbers, with digital sales increasing 19% versus third quarter 2020 and 49% versus third quarter 2019.
Digital penetration was 33% of net sales, a 5-percentage point expected to decline from third quarter 2020, but a 10-percentage point improvement over third quarter 2019.
Jeff Gennette, Chairman, and CEO of Macy’s spoke about building on the digital momentum of the quarter with the rollout of a new e-commerce platform.
He commented, "Today, we are announcing plans to launch a curated digital marketplace platform that will further fuel customer acquisition and sales growth across all of our channels.”
Customer Engagement
The Macy’s brand added 4.4 million new customers in the quarter, a 28% increase compared to the third quarter of 2019.
Gennette added, "Consumers continue to spend, and we successfully offered a wide range of expanding merchandise assortment to meet their growing demand"
Platinum, Gold, and Silver customers in the Star Rewards Loyalty program continued to engage, with the average customer spending up 16% compared to the third quarter of 2019.
Importantly, categories that were solid throughout the pandemic, including home, fragrances, jewelry, watches, and sleepwear, continued to see strong sales performance.
