TJX raised its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, betting on resilient demand at its off-price retail stores as budget-conscious consumers increasingly hunt for deals. Shares of the Framingham, Massachusetts-based company were down 4.6 per cent in premarket trading after TJX forecast third-quarter adjusted profit below estimates and reaffirmed its annual comparable sales forecast. Lower-income consumers are increasingly shifting toward discount retailers including TJX as economic uncertainty stemming from U.S. import tariffs and the Iran war forces them to tighten budgets. The company received aggregate refunds of US$331 million during the quarter for a portion of the IEEPA tariffs it previously paid. Excluding an expected net benefit of 6 cents from tariff refunds, the company sees third-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share to be in the range of US$1.30 to US$1.32, compared with analyst expectations of US$1.35, according to LSEG data. The off-price retailer continues to expect annual comparable store sales to grow between 3 per cent and 4 per cent. The TJ Maxx parent expects earnings per share for fiscal 2027 to be between US$5.31 and US$5.36, compared with its previous forecast of US$5.08 to US$5.15. (Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
