TJX Companies Inc. Q4 Earnings Report in Focus

TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE:TJX), founded in 1987, is a leading off-price retailer operating more than 4,500 stores across nine countries. The company purchases liquidated merchandise from struggling vendors at low prices and pass the savings on to its consumers. It regularly refreshes its inventories to stay competitive. TJX has also a dedicated team of buyers who help the company in finding the right fashions.

Like its rivals, TJX also struggled in 2020 due to the difficult operating environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The company could not gain much value during the previous year, as it was grappling with issues like store closures. TJX stock’s value increased just 10 percent in 2020.

The resurgence of Covid-19 cases in the U.S., Europe, and Canada during the fourth quarter also severely affected the company’s operations. TJX on Wednesday reported its Q4 results that fell short of expectations. The company reported earnings of 27 cents per share for the three months ended January 30, significantly down from 81 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts on average were expecting TJX to report earnings of 62 cents per share.

Revenue for the quarter fell 3 percent on a year-over-year basis to $10.94 billion, missing the consensus forecast of $11.48 billion. The company said that it lost $950 million to $1.05 billion in revenue due to store closures during the quarter.

TJX did not provide any outlook for the current fiscal year due to uncertainty amid the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it did mention that open-only comparable store sales during the first three weeks of fiscal 2022 were better than the prior quarter.

Shares of TJX marginally moved down on Wednesday following the Q4 results. The stock continued its downward movement Thursday, falling nearly 4 percent in the mid-day trading.