Investing.com - Tiffany & Co (NYSE:TIF) shares were trading lower on Thursday afternoon despite the company’s release of second quarter 2017 results which surpassed expectations.
Tiffany posted quarterly earnings of $0.92, 10% higher than the comparable quarter and above the consensus analyst forecast for $0.88.
Revenue for the recent quarter was $959.7 million, up 3% from the second quarter of 2016 and above the consensus estimate of $933.2 million.
While the company’s fifth straight quarter of a positive earnings surprise should be driving shares higher, investors appear to be focusing on a decrease in comparable store sales. Comparable store sales decreased 2% in the period.
In the first half of fiscal year, Tiffany had a net decline of one store, having opened three new stores and closed four old stores.
Looking forward, the company anticipates fiscal 2017 earnings per share to increase by a high-single-digit percentage and it expects earnings to jump mid-single-digit-percentage over adjusted earnings of $3.75 per share reported in fiscal 2016. Tiffany is forecasting fiscal year net sales will increase by a low-single-digit percentage.
When it comes to retail locations management anticipates gross retail square footage growth of 2% through ten openings, seven relocations, and seven closings.
Tiffany’s shares were down 1.4% in afternoon trade.