“Our teams achieved better than expected top- and bottom-line results during the second quarter, driven by our strongest comparable sales growth in 12 quarters, reflecting the strong performance in Macy’s Reimagine 125 locations, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury,” said Tony Spring, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s.

Second Quarter Results

In the second quarter of the 2025 financial year, which ended on the 2^nd of August, the company’s total net sales decreased by 2.5%, as compared to the same period of the last financial year, totalling 4.8 billion US dollars.

However, this decrease includes the impact of store closures in the same quarter of a year ago. In contrast, comparable sales increased by 0.8% on an owned basis and by 1.9% on an owned, licensed and marketplace basis in this quarter. In fact, the progress of the Bold New Chapter strategy initiatives is highlighted by the comparable sales figures for each brand in this period.

Macy’s reported a 3.8% year-on-year drop in second quarter net sales, but comparable sales rose slightly by 0.4% on an owned basis and by 1.2% on an owned, licensed and marketplace basis. The brand’s go-forward business (excluding closed stores) performed better, with comparable sales rising by 0.7% for owned stores and by 1.5% for owned, licensed and marketplace stores. The Reimagine 125 modernised stores performed particularly well, delivering growth of 1.1% and 1.4% respectively, reflecting the success of Macy’s store investment strategy.

At the same time, Bloomingdale’s net sales in the second quarter were up by 4.6% year-on-year, with comparable sales increasing by 3.6% on an owned basis and by 5.7% on an owned, licensed and marketplace basis. Bluemercury’s net sales increased by 3.3%, with comparable sales rising by 1.2% on an owned basis. Other revenue increased by 17.6% year-on-year in this period to 187 million US dollars.

In the second quarter of the current financial year, the company's gross margin rate fell by 80 basis points from the same period a year ago, standing at 39.7%. This was due to proactive markdowns on remaining Early Spring products to maintain healthy inventories, as well as product bought under prior tariff rates.

Macy’s reported that SG&A expenses fell by 29 million US dollars to 1.9 billion euros during this period. This was due to store closures and cost controls, although this was partly offset by investments in the go-forward business and the Reimagine 125 and Bloomingdale’s locations.

In the second quarter of the 2025 financial year, the company’s GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share were 0.31 and 0.41 US dollars respectively, as compared to 0.53 US dollars in the same period of the 2024 financial year.

Full Year Outlook

Macy’s expects full year net sales to be between 21.15 and 21.45 billion US dollars, which is slightly up from the previous guidance of between 21.0 and 21.4 billion US dollars. Adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to range from 1.70 to 2.05 US dollars, up from the previous guidance of between 1.60 and 2.00 US dollars.

“Our performance highlights the advantages of being a multi-brand, multi-category, omni-channel retailer. The substantive, enterprise-wide improvements across our business, with a strong focus on customer experience, give us further confidence that our Bold New Chapter initiatives can drive sustainable, long-term profitable growth”, added Tony Spring.

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