The CEO of TJX Cos. said Wednesday the holiday shopping season is off to a “strong start” as the discounter behind T.J. Maxx, Home Goods and Marshalls issued fiscal third-quarter results that beat expectations on the top and bottom lines.

“The availability of merchandise continues to be outstanding, and we are excited about the deals we are seeing in the marketplace,” CEO Ernie Herrman said in a news release. He said TJX’s brands are “strongly positioned as gifting destinations for value-conscious shoppers this holiday season.”

Still, the retailer’s holiday guidance fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. Assuming current tariff levels stay in effect, the company is expecting comparable sales to rise between 2% and 3% in its current quarter, shy of expectations of 3.1% growth, according to StreetAccount. TJX is expecting earnings per share to be between $1.33 and $1.36, which is also just below expectations of $1.37, according to LSEG.

Shares of the company rose less than 1% in afternoon trading.

Here’s how TJX performed during the quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $1.28 vs. $1.22 expected
• Revenue: $15.12 billion vs. $14.85 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Nov. 1 was $1.44 billion, or $1.28 per share, compared with $1.30 billion, or $1.14 per share, a year earlier.

Sales rose to $15.12 billion, up 7% from $14.06 billion a year earlier.

During the third quarter, comparable sales rose 5%, far ahead of expectations of 3.7% growth, according to StreetAccount.

TJX raised its guidance after the better-than-expected third-quarter results. While guidance for its current quarter was weaker than Wall Street anticipated, its full-year outlook came in stronger.

For fiscal 2026, TJX is now expecting comparable sales to rise 4%, better than the 3.4% growth analysts were expecting, according to StreetAccount. It’s expecting earnings per share to be between $4.63 and $4.66, better than the $4.61 analysts were expecting, according to LSEG.

The off-price retailer has been growing faster than expected in recent years thanks to value-hunting consumers who are still willing to shop for new clothes, but looking for an impressive discount. While uncertain economic times are a challenge for most companies, they tend to help off-price retailers because of a trade down effect from wealthier shoppers.

Even higher tariffs have been seen as a positive for TJX because if they force price increases elsewhere, it’s more reason to shop at an off-price store, the company said previously.