M acy’s faced a challenging first quarter, marked by declining sales and profits. Higher costs and reduced consumer spending contributed to this downturn. Despite the difficulties, Macy’s managed to surpass Wall Street expectations, resulting in a more positive outlook for the company’s performance going forward.

Macy’s stock rose Tuesday, after the department store chain reported fiscal first-quarter results that fell from a year ago but that beat expectations, and nudged up its full-year outlook.

The largest department store chain in the United States has not reported an increase in comparable-store sales since early 2022.

Macy's posted a bigger-than-expected drop in first-quarter sales on Tuesday, hobbled by stiff competition from off-price retailers for shoppers increasingly cautious about spending on products such as apparel and footwear.