Macy's shares climb on holiday season hopes Macy's was one of the best performing stocks on the S&P 500 after the retailer beat third-quarter earnings estimates and said same-store sales would improve. The Cincinnati-based retailer trimmed its full-year earnings guidance to between $4.25 and $4.35 a share, from as much as $4.50 a share earlier. But it expects same-store sales - a closely watched measure for retailers - to rise between 2 and 3 per cent in the fourth quarter as the key holiday shopping period approaches and new initiatives, including same-day delivery and buy online then pick-up in store, lift activity. Same-store sales in the company's third quarter fell 0.7 per cent from a year earlier, short of expectations for a 0.9 per cent gain. Overall, sales in the three months to November 1 fell 1.3 per cent to $6.2bn. Profits rose 23 per cent to $217m, or 61 cents a share. Analysts on Wall Street had forecast profits of $177m on sales of $6.34bn. "Macy's has emerged as the winner in the mid-tier department store world, in our view," said Paul Lejuez, an analyst at Wells Fargo. Though recent performance hasn't been its best, the company remains relatively well-positioned in the current environment as it set up to be promotional. Macy's shares gained 5 per cent to $61.57 and are up 15 per cent so far this year. Fossil led the S&P 500 on Wednesday, having topped third-quarter profit and sales expectations and after renewing a key licence with Michael Kors for another 10 years. The company, which makes watches under its namesake brands and for retailers such as Burberry, Emporio Armani and Michael Kors, reported a 16 per cent increase in net income from a year earlier to $103.7m, or $1.96 a share. Sales climbed 10 per cent to $894.5m. Wall Street analysts had expected earnings of $1.81 a share, on sales of $877.8m. Fossil shares gained 8 per cent to $112.48. Shares of SeaWorld fell 9 per cent to $16.85 after the company said attendance slid in the third quarter, weighing on profits and revenues. Overall, sales fell 8 per cent in the three months to the end of September from a year earlier to $495.8m, as admission revenues slipped 10 per cent. The US theme park operator said attendance declined 5 per cent from a year ago to 8.4m guest visits. Meanwhile, profits fell 28 per cent to $87.2m, or $1 per share, shy of forecasts for $98.6m. The release of the Blackfish documentary last year, which criticised the treatment of killer whales, has weighed on SeaWorld's results. Shares of Susquehanna Bancshares advanced 33 per cent to $13.12 after BB&T, the regional US bank based in North Carolina, agreed to buy Susquehanna for $2.5bn in cash and stock. With the purchase, BB&T plans to expand the company's footprint across the Mid-Atlantic region of the country. Renewed geopolitical concerns over Russia and Ukraine put a bump in the US benchmark S&P 500"s record-breaking streak. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 2,038.25 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 17,612.20. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3 per cent to 4,675.13.