What happened
Shares of Tiffany & Co. (TIF +0.00%) jumped 23.3% on Wednesday after the high-end jewelry company announced stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter 2018 results.
More specifically, Tiffany's quarterly net sales climbed 14.9% year over year to $1.033 billion, while net earnings grew more than 50% to $142.3 million, or $1.14 per share. Analysts, on average, were only looking for earnings of $0.83 per share on revenue of $958.2 million.
Image source: Tiffany & Co.
So what
Tiffany CEO Alessandro Bogliolo stated he is "very pleased" with the quarter, noting his company achieved sales growth across most geographic regions and all product categories. Bogliolo added that Tiffany's continues to focus on driving sustained comparable-sales growth with the strategic investments it outlined last quarter, with notable progress "renewing [its] product offerings and enhancing in-store presentation."
Tiffany's also approved a new $1 billion share repurchase authorization valid through Jan. 31, 2022.
Now what
Looking ahead to the full fiscal-year 2018, Tiffany expects worldwide net sales will increase in the high-single-digit percent range from fiscal 2017, which should translate to net earnings of $4.50 to $4.70 per diluted share. Here again, those predictions compared favorably to Wall Street's consensus estimates for full fiscal-year 2018 earnings of $4.42 per share on more modest 5.6% revenue growth.
In the end, this was a straightforward quarterly beat followed by a better-than-expected full-year outlook, and punctuated by an ambitious new share repurchase program. It's no surprise to see Tiffany stock sparkling in response.
