The iconic Tiffany and Co. sign stands out on its 5th Avenue store in New York in this photo taken Aug. 26, 2010. (AP / Bebeto Matthews)
NEW YORK — 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 per cent 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 per cent 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 f...