April Sales Winners and Losers

April sales numbers were released this morning, and results were mixed. Some of the biggest names in the U.S. retail market fell short of expectations – a few of them by a wide margin. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, with several companies showing significant progress from a year ago.

Here are the biggest “winners” and “losers” among publicly traded companies from today’s April sales report:

 Winners

  • Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN): The high-end retailer reported a 7.1% improvement in its April sales, outpacing the 5.8% growth analysts were expecting.
  • Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD): The owner and operator of several big-name retail stores including Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret after same-stores sales gained 6%, beating expectations of 4%. As a result, the stock jumped 2.5% to a new 52-week high of $51.71 a share today.
  • Zumiez (Nasdaq: ZUMZ): The teen retailer reported a 10% rise in same-store sales versus analyst estimates of 6.8% year-to-year growth. The stock is up 1.8% as a result.

Losers

  • Macy’s (NYSE: M): Same-store sales at the New York-based department store were up only 1.2% from a year ago, trailing the 1.9% improvement analysts had projected. Macy’s officials blamed the sluggish sales on an earlier Easter cutting down on the number of pre-holiday shopping days in April.
  • Target (NYSE: TGT): Target’s same-store sales were even more underwhelming than Macy’s. April sales rose 1.1%, well short of the 2.8% improvement that was expected. The miss sent shares tumbling 2.5% today.
  • Costco (Nasdaq: COST): The wholesale giant posted steady 4% sales growth, but that was shy of the 4.9% analyst estimates. It marks the second straight month that Costco has missed sales projections, and sent the stock tumbling 2.8% in trading today.
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