TJX Raises Full-Year Targets as Cost-Conscious Shoppers Flocks to Discount Chains

By Adriano Marchese

TJX raised its full-year profit outlook after reporting higher second-quarter sales and earnings, as more budget-leery shoppers continued to flock to its banners for discounted home goods and apparel.

The off-price apparel and home fashions retailer on Wednesday said it now expects its pretax profit margin to be in the range of 12.3% to 12.4%, up from a previous range of $11.9% to $12%.

Earnings are also expected higher, now at $5.31 to $5.36 a share, up from previous expectations of $5.08 to $5.15 a share. Analysts polled on FactSet expect $5.23 a share.

For its second quarter, the owner of T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Homesense, posted net income of $1.52 billion, or $1.36 a share, compared with $1.24 billion, or $1.10 a share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Adjusted earnings were $1.36 a share, coming in ahead of the $1.19-a-share, expected by analysts and its own range of between $1.15 and $1.17, according to FactSet.

Sales rose to $15.18 billion from $14.4 billion, topping an analyst consensus projection of $15.16 billion.

Comparable-sales growth was 4%.

Chief Executive Ernie Herrman noted that while sales at Marmaxx were below expectations, HomeGoods, TJX Canada and TJX International all delivered strong comparable sales increases of 6% to 7%.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, the company expects sales to rise by about 2% to 3%, with earnings per share in the range of $1.36 to $1.38. On an adjusted basis, the company expects earnings of $1.30 to $1.32 a share, below analyst expectations of $1.35 a share.

"The third quarter is off to a strong start, and we are seeing improvement at our Marmaxx division to start the quarter," Herrman said.

TJX is also planning to open more stores starting in 2027, targeting 4% growth. Herrman said that the company can grow its overall global store base to a total of 7,500 stores across its existing retail banners over the long term.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 19, 2026 08:11 ET (12:11 GMT)