Lower costs spur Nordstrom

Article Excerpt

NORDSTROM INC. $46 (New York symbol JWN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 166.9 million; Market cap: $7.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.nordstrom.com) reported revenue of $4.3 billion (including credit-card fees) for its fiscal 2017 fourth quarter, ended January 28, 2017. That’s a 2.9% increase from $4.2 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales fell 0.9%, as declines at the company’s full-price department stores offset most of the gains at its discount outlets. Nordstrom’s earnings rose 11.7%, to $201 million from $180 million; due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings gained 15.0%, to $1.15 a share from $1.00. Those increases are mainly due to better inventory management. It cuts the need for costly clearance sales. Nordstrom is still a buy. buy…