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Signet Jewelers raised its annual adjusted earnings forecast to $10.45 to $12.15 a share from $9.20 to $11, citing operating performance, additional buybacks, tariff refunds and a new consumer credit agreement. It maintained sales guidance of $6.7 billion to $6.9 billion and narrowed its same-store sales outlook to flat to 2.5% growth. Second-quarter profit was $52.1 million, or $1.33 a share, versus a $9.1 million loss a year earlier. Adjusted earnings of $2.19 a share exceeded analysts’ expectations, while sales fell less than 1% to $1.53 billion. Signet also renewed its Bread Financial agreement through 2035 and plans a $125 million accelerated share repurchase.
Lab-grown diamonds, producible in about a week, have surged in supply and fallen sharply in price, pressuring mined-diamond sales and prices. De Beers, industry groups, governments and retailers are responding by branding mined stones as “natural,” emphasizing rarity, provenance, craftsmanship and environmental and community benefits. The industry is investing heavily in marketing, traceability technology and products such as De Beers’ brown-toned Desert Diamonds, whose sales rose nearly 20% in early 2026. While affluent buyers still favor rare mined stones and their higher resale value, lower-priced synthetic gems increasingly dominate the broader market. Mine closures, weak demand and De Beers’ potential sale underscore continuing strain, though some analysts expect mined diamonds eventually to recover.
Signet Jewelers, owner of Kay and Zales, reported first-quarter sales of $1.55 billion, up from $1.54 billion, and profit of $31.7 million versus $33.5 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings of $1.56 a share exceeded analysts’ $1.38 forecast; same-store sales increased 1.8%. Signet raised its full-year sales outlook’s lower bound to $6.7 billion from $6.6 billion, retaining a $6.9 billion upper bound. It increased adjusted earnings guidance to $9.20–$11 a share, reflecting additional buybacks since March, and plans a $50 million accelerated repurchase this month. Second-quarter sales are forecast at $1.5 billion–$1.53 billion, below analysts’ $1.54 billion estimate.
A slide in the Sri Lankan rupee, Asia’s worst performing currency this month, has intensified due to speculation of further weakening, according to Deputy Minister of Finance Anil Jayantha Fernando.
Importers are buying more dollars and exporters are delaying conversion of their foreign-currency earnings, Fernando told parliament in Colombo on Tuesday. The South Asian nation has also seen outflows from government securities and the stock market, he said.
The rupee has fallen 3.4% this month, the biggest loser in Asia, as the nation’s fuel import bill surged six-fold since the start of the Iran war. The central bank is intervening when necessary to contain volatility in the foreign-exchange market, the Daily FT reported Tuesday, citing Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe.
“The end of the war will help restore some confidence in markets. But we do not really know when it will end,” said Dhananath Fernando, chief executive officer at Advocata Institute, a Colombo-based think tank. “In the past, this type of depreciation episodes, with or without external shocks, have not been contained without draining liquidity and tightening monetary policy.”
The country has taken steps to stem the slide in rupee, including a 50% import duty surcharge on private vehicles for three months, fuel rationing and higher electricity tariffs.