Shares of Macy's (M -2.03%) hit an all-time high today, after the company announced that its Q4 profits were up 11%, although the company missed expectations on sales, something management attributed to the extreme winter weather causing some store closures.

In this segment from Tuesday's Investor Beat, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool analyst Mike Olsen discuss the earnings report, and whether companies citing winter weather as a difficulty this quarter should be given a pass, as the market seems to have today for Macy's. Mike then discusses the department-store space as a whole, and says that while there is much to applaud Macy's for in its approach to the business, the business itself is extremely competitive and cutthroat, and demonstrating a real competitive advantage here can be very difficult.