Macy's adjusted second-quarter EPS of $0.63 includes a $0.23 net tariff refund benefit
Macy's, Inc. released second-quarter results at 6:55 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Sept. 10, under the headline "Macy's, Inc. Reports Strong Second Quarter 2026 Results With Continued Growth Across All Nameplates." Net sales were $4.9 billion, up 1.1% against the prior year. On comparable sales the release says: "Macy's, Inc. comparable sales rose 2.7%, with go-forward comparable sales up 2.8%." The 2.7% is the company-level figure on an owned-plus-licensed-plus-marketplace basis; the 2.8% is the narrower go-forward measure, which the release's footnotes define as inclusive of go-forward locations and digital. The two are not interchangeable.
The earnings lines require care, because the two bases sit almost on top of each other while the drivers underneath them do not. Macy's reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.62 and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.63. The release states: "GAAP and Adjusted diluted EPS were $0.62 and $0.63, respectively. These include a gross tariff refund benefit, less investments back into the business, resulting in a net tariff refund benefit of $0.23 in the quarter."
The company's own summary bullet carries the qualifier that any accurate account of the quarter has to carry with it: "GAAP EPS was up 100%; Adjusted EPS was up 14% excluding net tariff refund benefit versus last year." The 14% figure is not a growth rate on the reported $0.63. It is a growth rate stated after the $0.23 net refund benefit is taken out. Quoting the 14% without the excluding clause, or pairing it with the reported adjusted figure as though the two describe the same thing, misstates the release.
The same structure runs through the margin line. Macy's wrote: "Gross margin rate of 41.5% increased 180 basis points. Excluding a 180 basis point benefit from net tariff refunds, partially offset by a 10 basis point headwind from ongoing tariff and fuel costs, gross margin rate was up 10 basis points." On the company's own arithmetic, the whole 180 basis points of headline expansion is accounted for by the net refund benefit; the residual 10 basis points of underlying improvement appears only after that benefit is stripped out and the 10 basis point tariff-and-fuel headwind it partly offsets is added back. Neither the 180 basis point benefit nor the 10 basis point headwind can be quoted on its own without the other.
Among the nameplates, Bloomingdale's comparable sales rose 11.3%, which the release describes as the brand's highest second-quarter sales volume in its history, and Bluemercury comparable sales rose 6.2%.
Macy's raised every line of its full-year 2026 outlook. The company now guides to net sales of "$21.675 billion to $21.825 billion," against "$21.5 billion to $21.75 billion" in the outlook it published on June 3; a comparable sales change of "1.0% to 1.5%," against "0.5% to 1.2%"; adjusted EBITDA as a percent of total revenue of "7.8% to 8.0%," against "7.7% to 7.9%"; and adjusted diluted EPS of "$2.15 to $2.35," against "$2.00 to $2.20."
The June 3 figures are confirmed by Macy's first-quarter release of that date, which published the same four ranges. The earnings line of the outlook moved up by 15 cents at both ends of the range. Two of the four outlook lines — adjusted EBITDA as a percent of revenue and adjusted diluted EPS — are stated on an adjusted, non-GAAP basis, as their labels indicate; the outlook table as published does not carry a corresponding GAAP earnings per share range.
The release attaches a specific limit to how much of the tariff windfall reaches the guided earnings line: "Forward-looking guidance incorporates reinvestments of the majority of tariff refunds with approximately $0.05 per share flowing through to full year adjusted diluted EPS." On the company's framing, in other words, most of the refund money is going back into the business rather than into the full-year adjusted EPS figure, and roughly a nickel of it is not.
Chairman and chief executive Tony Spring said in the release: "Our second-quarter performance builds on the progress our colleagues have consistently delivered through our Bold New Chapter strategy. The investments we're making are driving results across our portfolio, from the continued outperformance of our Reimagine 200 Macy's stores, to meaningful double-digit growth at Bloomingdale's and another solid quarter at Bluemercury."
The direction of the GAAP-to-adjusted gap is worth noting because it flipped this quarter. In the first quarter of 2026, reported on June 3, Macy's posted GAAP diluted EPS of $0.23 against adjusted diluted EPS of $0.13 — GAAP above adjusted, the less common arrangement. In the second quarter the order reversed, with adjusted a penny above GAAP. A reader tracking the two measures across the first half cannot assume a stable relationship between them.
The financial statements in the release are labeled unaudited, appearing under headings including "Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited)" and "Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)." The audited figures for the year will not exist until the annual report is filed.
Macy's reported into an open session. The market was still trading as this article was written on Thursday morning, and no closing price for the day exists yet. For reference on where the broad market stood coming in, the S&P 500 closed Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 7,636.36, down 0.48%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 52,380.66, down 0.77%.
