What to expect when Macy’s (M) reports its Q1 2025 earnings results

Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) were down over 1% on Monday. The stock has dropped 19% over the past three months. The retailer is scheduled to report its earnings results for the first quarter of 2025 on Wednesday, May 28, before the market opens. Here’s a look at what to expect from the earnings report:

Revenue

Macy’s has guided for net sales of $4.4-4.5 billion for the first quarter of 2025. Analysts are projecting sales of $4.42 billion, which indicates a decline of over 8% from the same period a year ago. In the fourth quarter of 2024, net sales decreased 4% year-over-year to $7.8 billion.

Earnings

The retailer expects adjusted earnings per share to range between $0.12-0.15 in Q1 2025. Analysts are predicting EPS of $0.15, which implies a 44% drop from the first quarter of last year. In Q4 2024, adjusted EPS fell 20% YoY to $1.80.

Points to note

Macy’s continues to transform itself through its Bold New Chapter strategy. The company is improving its product assortment, enhancing its customer experience, and revamping its store fleet. It is reshaping its private brands, adding relevant national brands, and removing brands that no longer serve the customer. It is also focusing on marketing as well as improving its digital capabilities. These efforts are likely to have yielded benefits in the first quarter.  

Another key area of focus is its store fleet. Macy’s is closing its unproductive stores and focusing its resources on its more profitable ones. The company aims to drive growth through a smaller, more productive store fleet. Macy’s expanded its go-forward store base by an additional 75 stores to reach a total of 125 locations. The early results from this expansion are likely to be reflected in the Q1 performance.

Macy’s continues to see strength in its luxury nameplates and this is likely to benefit the to-be-reported quarter. In Q4, Bloomingdale’s recorded comparable sales growth of nearly 5% while Bluemercury saw comp sales grow by 6% on an owned basis. The company continues to work on driving growth in its luxury divisions through brand partnerships, and store expansions and remodels. These initiatives are likely to have benefited Q1 results.