TJX comparable store sales growth of 6% at Marmaxx and 9% at HomeGoods powered a fiscal first-quarter earnings beat that sent the stock within a dollar of its 52-week high of $170, with the company now trading around $168.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Q1 FY2027 EPS | $1.19 (beat by $0.17) |
| Revenue (YOY) | $14.32B, +9.2% |
| Consolidated Gross Margin Expansion | +180 bps |
| FY2027 Buyback Authorization | $2.75B–$3.0B |
| Q1 Cash on Hand | $5.6B |
| Consensus Price Target (23 analysts) | $174.58 |
The quarter was clean across every line. Consolidated gross margin expanded 180 basis points, driven by merchandise margin gains, lower fuel hedge costs, and expense leverage across all divisions. Marmaxx added 90 basis points at the segment level. HomeGoods pushed 270 basis points higher.
EPS of $1.19 cleared the consensus bar by 17 cents. That kind of beat creates a guidance question fast.
TJX Comparable Store Sales and Margin Expansion
On the earnings call, CFO John Klinger broke down the math explicitly. TJX beat its own Q1 guidance by $0.20 per share, flowed $0.13 of that beat into the full-year outlook, and absorbed the remaining $0.07 differential into current diesel prices now embedded in the model. Management raised full-year gross margin guidance to a 31.2%–31.3% range, with pretax margins expected at 11.9%–12.0%.
The revised outlook reflects a business running with structural momentum, not one-time items. TJX comparable store sales strength is the engine: when Marmaxx comps at 6% and HomeGoods at 9% in the same quarter, the operating leverage math works decisively in favor of margin expansion.
The balance sheet backs the story. TJX ended Q1 FY2027 with $5.6 billion in cash and $1.5 billion of untapped revolving credit. During the quarter alone it repurchased $604 million of stock and paid $474 million in dividends. That is over $1 billion returned to shareholders in a single quarter, while still funding domestic and international store expansion.
Dividends, Buybacks, and the Insider Selling Context
The board declared a $0.48 quarterly dividend on June 9. The payment is scheduled for September 3, 2026, to shareholders of record as of August 13. The payout follows a 13% dividend hike in March and extends a five-year consecutive payment streak. Full-year buyback authorization runs $2.75B–$3.0B.
Short interest sits at roughly 1.59% of the float, about 14 million shares with a days-to-cover ratio of 2.4. Institutions including Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon hold anchor positions. The setup is not one that screams near-term bearish pressure.
Insider selling has generated some headlines. Executive Chair Carol Meyrowitz divested 55,624 shares on June 11, and CFO Klinger sold 6,235 shares earlier in the month for roughly $1 million. Both transactions followed Form 144 filings and appear linked to equity compensation awards. Broader context: CEO Ernie Herrman sold 30,000 shares on March 2, 2026, and has sold a total of 453,662 shares since 2021 for an estimated $47.7 million. These are systematic compensation-related sales, not signs of changed conviction at the top.
Analysts at Truist Securities raised their price target to $190. UBS reiterated a Buy. The 23-analyst consensus sits at $174.58, about 3.7% above current levels. Truist’s target implies roughly 13% upside from here.
Valuation is the legitimate debate. TJX trades at a trailing P/E of 32.7 and a forward P/E near 32.5. A premium multiple like that leaves little cushion for execution stumbles. Any softening in TJX comparable store sales, or a faster-than-expected recovery in full-price retail that tightens the available distressed inventory pool, could pressure the multiple quickly.
The next hard number is Q2 FY2027 earnings. If comps hold in the mid-single-digit range and gross margin guidance proves conservative again, Truist’s $190 target starts looking reasonable. A comp deceleration below 4% would test whether the multiple can hold at 32x.
