=Macy's (M) reported earnings Thur 11 Aug 2016 (b/o)

Macy's beats by $0.03, beats on revs; reaffirms FY17 guidance; intends to close 100 (14%) of full line stores :

• Reports Q2 (Jul) adj. earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.48; revenues fell 3.9% year/year to $5.87 bln vs the $5.77 bln Capital IQ Consensus. 
• Comparable sales on an owned plus licensed basis were down by 2.0 percent in Q2 vs ests closer to -4.5%. On an owned basis, second quarter comparable sales declined by 2.6 percent. The difference between the year-over-year change in total and comparable sales largely resulted from the closing of 41 underperforming Macy's stores in fiscal 2015.
• Co reaffirms guidance for FY17, sees EPS of $3.15-3.40, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.26 Capital IQ Consensus; comps down 3-4%. 
• "We are encouraged by the distinct improvement in our sales and earnings trend in the second quarter. Over the past few months, we have been saying that a setback is a setup for a comeback, and we now believe we are set up well to proceed to a comeback. Our sales strengthened month-by-month throughout the second quarter. This trend improvement gives us confidence in our plans for the back half of the year, and in our strategic planning for improvements to our business model going forward. A number of factors worked in our favor in the second quarter, including a normalized weather pattern, which contributed to a sales lift in our apparel business in particular. We also saw a smaller decrease in tourist spending during prime summer travel months, supported by strengthened promotional events designed to increase customer traffic and conversion."