Tiffany 3rd-quarter sales fall on weak demand in Japan

High-end jeweler Tiffany & Co reported lower-than-expected third-quarter sales, but continued its recent strong showing as shares rose 2.5% to close at $107.60.

Tiffany (TIF) has seen its stock rise 30% in the past year and 13% year to date.

That comes despite the luxury retailer missing Wall Street expectations with its third-quarter earnings, released today before the U.S. market opened.

A bright spot: Total sales for Tiffany in the Americas rose 10% to $459 million in the third quarter, while sales in Japan fell 12% to $113 million in the third quarter. Weaker economic conditions in Japan led to the weaker demand, Tiffany said.

"We were pleased with overall sales performance, especially in light of economic and geopolitical challenges around the world," said CEO and Chairman Michael Kowalski in a statement. "We continue to pursue exciting opportunities in marketing, merchandising and store expansion to support longer-term growth."

Worldwide net sales increased 8% to $2.96 billion, and the company's forecast was softened slightly to a mid-to-high-single-digit percentage, compared with the previous high-single-digit forecast.

Kowalski also expressed encouragement about the jeweler's new Tiffany T collection, launched during the third quarter.

Tiffany's net income fell 60% to $38 million, compared with $95 million in the third quarter last year. But the company reported a pretax loss of $94 million due to debt repayment.

Adjusted earnings were 76 cents per share, below analyst expectations of 78 cents per share.

Revenue rose 5.2% to $959.6 million, below expectations of $970.2 million.