Tiffany's Stock Drops After Lackluster Sales, Downbeat Outlook

Shares of Tiffany & Co. dropped 2.7% in premarket trade Friday after the high-end jewelry retailer topped fiscal fourth-quarter profit expectations, but missed on same-store sales and provided a downbeat outlook. For the quarter ended Jan. 31, earnings came in at $196.2 million, or $1.51 share, compared with a loss of $103.6 million, or 81 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. That beat the FactSet EPS consensus of $1.50 a share. Total sales slipped 1% to $1.3 billion, matching the FactSet consensus. Same-store sales fell 4%, or were flat on a constant currency basis, with Japan showing the most weakness. The FactSet consensus was for an increase of 0.6%. For fiscal 2016, Tiffany expects total earnings per share to show "minimal growth" from the $4.20 earned in 2015, while the FactSet consensus calls for 5% growth. The stock has tumbled 19% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.5%.