Macy’s (M) expected to report lower sales and earnings in Q2 2025

Shares of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) stayed red on Friday. The stock has gained 11% in the past three months. The retailer is slated to report its earnings results for the second quarter of 2025 on Wednesday, September 3, before market open. Here’s a look at what to expect from the earnings report:

Revenue

Macy’s has guided for net sales of $4.65-4.75 billion for the second quarter of 2025. Analysts are projecting revenue of $4.70 billion, which indicates a decline of 4% from the same period a year ago. In the first quarter of 2025, net sales decreased 5.1% year-over-year to $4.6 billion.

Earnings

Macy’s has guided for adjusted earnings per share of $0.15-0.20 for Q2 2025. Analysts are predicting EPS of $0.19 for the quarter, which implies a decline of 64% from the prior-year quarter. In Q1 2025, adjusted EPS decreased 41% YoY to $0.16.

Points to note

Macy’s has guided for comparable sales on an owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace basis to range from down 1.5% to up 0.5% in the second quarter of 2025. In Q1, comparable sales were down 1.2% on an owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace basis. Last quarter’s comps were negatively impacted by a decline at the Macy’s nameplate, which offset growth at both the Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury nameplates.

In Q1, the retailer saw net sales decline 6.5% and comps, on an O+L+M basis, decline 2.1% at the Macy’s nameplate. Bloomingdale’s net sales were up 2.6% and comps on an O+L+M basis were up 3.8%. Bluemercury net sales were up 0.8% and comparable sales on an owned basis were up 1.5%. The luxury nameplates are likely to continue their momentum in the second quarter.  

Macy’s go-forward business has been performing better-than-expected, with comparable O+L+M sales down 0.9%, which outperformed total comps. The Reimagine 125 locations comparable sales were down 0.8% on an owned-plus-licensed basis last quarter. The company is also making good progress on its Bold New Chapter strategy.

As mentioned on its last earnings call, Macy’s expects gross margin in Q2 to be impacted by two factors. The first is discounts on early spring product taken in order to revamp the assortment for summer as well as the fall and holiday season. Second, a meaningful portion of the product bought under the 145% tariffs flows through Q2. In Q1, gross margin remained flat YoY at 39.2%.