Mother's Day boosts Signet sales as jewelry leads gift spending

Jewelry found its footing late in Signet’s quarter, a useful signal for anyone watching where shoppers still choose to splurge. The company said demand softened in the second half of the first quarter, then rebounded around Mother’s Day and into the second quarter, helping same-store sales rise 1.8% to about $1.6 billion for the period ended May 2, 2026.

That rebound mattered because it showed the category still has emotional gravity, even in a cautious spending environment. Signet said all categories were up on a comparable-sales basis, and chief executive J.K. Symancyk said the company posted positive comparable sales in each month of the quarter. He added that trends softened later in the period before the Mother’s Day lift arrived, a pattern that fits a market where shoppers may delay discretionary purchases until the gift feels meaningful enough to justify the spend.

The numbers behind the holiday help explain the move. The National Retail Federation projected that U.S. Mother’s Day spending would hit a record $38 billion, with jewelry leading all gift categories at $7.5 billion. The average shopper planned to spend a record $284.25, while 84% of U.S. adults said they planned to celebrate. Just as telling, 46% said finding something unique or different mattered most when buying gifts, a reminder that jewelry still wins when it feels personal rather than generic.

For Signet, that timing gave the quarter a cleaner finish than the middle looked likely to deliver. The company reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.56 and raised the midpoint of its full-year fiscal 2027 guidance after the quarter. Symancyk said, “We drove topline growth in the first quarter with all categories up on a comparable sales basis. We also delivered positive performances for both Valentine’s Day in February as well as Mother’s Day to start the second quarter.”

The company is also reshaping itself as it leans into those seasonal bursts. On March 19, Signet said it would close about 100 stores and shut down the James Allen e-commerce banner, shifting complementary products to Blue Nile as part of its Grow Brand Love strategy. Chief financial officer Joan Hilson said Signet had already returned more than $125 million to shareholders through June 2 and planned a $50 million accelerated share repurchase in June. The message for the jewelry business is clear: even in a softer quarter, the right holiday still turns sentiment into sales.