Why Nordstrom Stock Jumped Today

Shares of Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) were surging today after the high-end department store chain posted better-than-expected earnings in its third-quarter report. Today's gains also came after the stock fell earlier in the week on disappointing reports from peers including Kohl's.

As of 3:03 p.m. EST on Friday, the stock was up 10.3%.

Nordstrom's results were far from spectacular, as overall sales still fell, but the results showed improvement in some key areas. Net sales, which the company is now using as a proxy for comparable-store sales, fell 2.2%, though sales returned to growth in the off-price Nordstrom Rack segment, rising 1.2%. The trend in the full-line division, which makes up nearly two-thirds of the company's sales, improved from earlier in the year, but still dropped 4.1%.

Source Fool.com