Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Corp. today reported first quarter net income of $107 million, or 64 cents per diluted share, up 65 percent from $66 million, or 39 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2017.
Revenue totaled $4.2 billion, a 3.5 percent increase from the company’s reported $4.0 billion for the same quarter last year. Comparable sales increased 3.6 percent in quarter one, topping analysts’ expectation of a 2.7 percent rise.
Its first quarter gross margin of 36.9 percent increased by 50 basis points from last year’s first quarter gross margin of 36.4, exceeding company expectations. The company said the high marginal increase was driven by a focus on inventory management.
“We are very pleased with our strong start to fiscal 2018 as we continued to focus on our priorities of driving traffic and operational excellence,” Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief executive officer said. “We built on our recent momentum and achieved our third consecutive quarter of positive comparable sales, which increased on both a fiscal and a shifted basis.”
