U.S. Retailers Report Weaker June Sales

by Christopher Freeburn | July 5, 2012 12:19 pm

Consumers appeared to pull back from spending last month, prompting a number of retailers to post lower-than-expected sales numbers for June[1].

Costco (NASDAQ:COST[2]) said it saw an overall 3% rise in same-store sales last month. That fell short of the 3.7% that analysts were looking for. The company’s international sales were hurt a rising dollar, but its U.S. same-store sales also disappointed analysts, Reuters noted.

Target‘s (NYSE:TGT[3]) sales for June rose 2.1%. But that was below analysts’ forecast. Macy‘s (NYSE:M[4]) posted a same-store sales bump of just 1.2% in June, but that was down from the 1.9% gain analysts expected. June sales at Kohl‘s (NYSE:KSS[5]) also came in below estimates.

The news wasn’t all bad. Limited Brands (NYSE:LTD[6]) posted a 7% jump, topping the 2.4% increase Wall Street had anticipated.

Discount chains, including TJX (NYSE:TJX[7]) and Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST[8]) also saw higher sales and upgraded their second-quarter guidance.

Upscale retailers also fared better with Nordstrom‘s (NYSE:JWN[9]) and Saks (NYSE:SKS[10]) reporting better-than-expected sales.

Analysts cited by Reuters attributed the mixed results to growing consumer worries over continued high unemployment and the global economic slowdown.

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