Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) 4Q18 Results: Soft Traffic at Full-Price Stores Penalizes Sales

Executive Summary

• Net sales declined 4.7% to $4.4 billion, comps declined 1.6% in full-price and rose 4% in the off-price division.
• Operating margin was flat at 7.6%, reflecting modest gross margin contraction offset by SG&A expense leverage.
• For 2019, the company expects net sales to grow 1-2%, lower than the consensus estimate of 2.8%, and projected EPS to be $3.65- to $3.90, ranges in line with the consensus estimate of $3.67.