The TJX Companies, one of the leading off-price apparel and home fashion retailers in the United States and worldwide, issued solid financials for its fiscal 2016 third quarter ended Oct 31. Revenues increased 5% y-o-y to $7.75 bn and outperformed consensus estimate of $7.68 bn. Consolidated comparable-store sales increased 5%, better than 2% rise in the year-ago quarter. The improvement was driven by same-store sales growth of 3% at Marmaxx, 6% at Home Goods, 10% at TJX Canada and 7% at TJX Europe. The company's pre-tax profit margin shrank 0.9 percentage points to 12.1% due to negative impact of the strong dollar at international divisions and increased supply chain costs related to a substantial increase in units sold during the quarter. Merchandise margins, however, remained strong. Adjusted earnings per share rose 1.2% to 85 cents topping analysts’ average projection of 84 cents. In FQ3, TJX bought back 6.4 mn shares for $459 mn, with the year-to date tally reaching $1.3 bn. The company continues to expect to repurchase $1.8-1.9 bn of TJX stock in fiscal 2016. During FQ3, TJX increased its store count by a net of 133 stores to a total of 3,594 stores, including 35 Trade Secret stores, acquired in October. The Trade Secret deal marked the company’s entry into the Australian market. TJX’s square footage grew 5% over the same period last year. TJX continues to expect diluted earnings per share in the range of $3.26-3.28 for full fiscal year 2016, an increase of 3-4% from fiscal 2015. Comparable-store sales are projected to grow 4-5% for fiscal 2016, up from the earlier guidance of 3-4%. I expect consumer confidence and consumer spending to continue to rise on the TJX’s key markets in the years to come, especially in the US, and the company’s business model, in my opinion, is well positioned to continue to benefit from this trend. Recently, TJX’s shares broke out 50-day moving average to the upside. I expect growth to continue, with the nearest aim at $75. $TJX, TJX Companies, Inc. (The) / 1440