By Elias Schisgall and Suzanne Kapner

Signet Jewelers lifted the low end of its guidance after reporting higher sales in the first quarter.

The owner of Kay and Zales on Tuesday reported a profit of $31.7 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with a profit of $33.5 million, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, the company reported adjusted earnings of $1.56 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $1.38 a share.

Sales rose to $1.55 billion, up from $1.54 billion a year prior, and in line with analyst estimates from FactSet.

Same-store sales rose 1.8% and was in line with estimates, but slowed from 2.7% growth a year earlier.

Signet Chief Executive J.K. Symancyk said in an interview that while lower-income customers are trading down, the opposite is happening with higher-end shoppers. That has helped push up average prices at the company's retail chains. "We see opportunities to sell more at the higher end," he said.

Signet said its results serve as early proof points of its "Grow Brand Love" strategy, adding that it is accelerating go-to-market plans for Kay, Zales and Jared.

The company said it plans to buy back $50 million worth of stock as part of an accelerated share repurchase agreement later this month.

It also lifted the bottom end of its full-year outlook, projecting sales of $6.7 billion to $6.9 billion, up from $6.6 billion previously at the low end. Same-store sales growth is expected in a range from 0.75% decline to 2.5% increase, with the lower bound lifted from a 1.25% decline.

The company now expects adjusted earnings of $9.20 to $11 a share, up from a prior range of $8.80 to $10.74. The new guidance for adjusted earnings reflects additional stock buybacks since March, the company said.

Analysts expect fiscal year adjusted earnings of $10.45 a share, sales of $6.84 billion and same-store sales growth of 1.5%.

For the current second quarter, the company is forecasting sales of between $1.5 billion and $1.53 billion, with same-store sales growing of 0.5% to 2.5%. Analysts expect sales of $1.54 billion and same-store sales growth of 1.73%.

Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com and Suzanne Kapner at suzanne.kapner@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 02, 2026 06:51 ET (10:51 GMT)

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