Tiffany Shares Drop On Weak Forecast

Shares of Tiffany & Co. TIF slipped over 3% in pre-market trading, despite the company reporting in-line earnings for the fourth quarter. The company's weak forecast exerted pressure on the shares. The New York-based company posted quarterly earnings of $196.2 million, or $1.51 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $103.6 million, or $0.81 per share. Its total sales declined to $1.29 billion from $1.30 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.51 per share on revenue of $1.31 billion. Its same-store sales dropped 4% in the quarter, while same-store sales came in flat on a constant currency basis. In the Americas, comparable store sales came in unchanged versus the year-ago period. In the Asia-Pacific region, comparable store sales gained 3% in the quarter. In Europe, comparable store sales gained 4%, while comparable store sales slipped 5% in Japan. Gross margin rose to 60.8% in the quarter, versus 60.5% a year earlier. At January 31, 2015, the company had $731 million in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, versus $367 million a year earlier. Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "2014 was a successful year for our Company with meaningful progress made by our global team. We expanded our store base, introduced compelling new jewelry designs and strengthened customer awareness. And we achieved very healthy growth in net sales and earnings for the year." For fiscal 2016, the company projects 'minimal' net EPS growth versus earnings of $4.20 per share in 2015. Analysts had expected earnings of $4.45 per share for the year. Tiffany also expects Q1 net earnings to drop 30% on sales decline of 10%. Tiffany shares fell 3.73% to $83.15 in pre-market trading.