What's happening Shares of upscale department-store chain Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) were down again on Thursday as investors continued to digest disappointing holiday-season earnings and lackluster guidance for the year ahead. As of 12:30 p.m. EST, Nordstrom's shares were trading down about 8% from Wednesday's closing price. So what Nordstrom's result for the quarter that ended on Jan. 31 wasn't a disaster, but it wasn't up to Wall Street's expectations. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.42 were down 4.1% from the year-ago period and short of Wall Street's consensus $1.48-PER-SHARE estimate. Image source: Nordstrom. Net sales for the holiday quarter rose 1.3%, and digital sales growth was a promising 9%, with digital sales rising to 35% of total from 33% a year ago. But off-price storefronts drove much of the growth, such as it was, depressing margins. Sales at Nordstrom's namesake full-price stores were up just 1% in the holiday quarter. Now what The company said that investors should expect a lackluster growth rate through the coming year. Its forecast calls for sales growth of between 1.5% and 2.5% for the year that will end Jan. 31, 2021. But it hopes to improve margins: It expects full-year profit to come in between $3.25 and $3.50 per share, up from $3.18 in 2019. 10 stocks we like better than NordstromWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Nordstrom wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 John Rosevear has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Nordstrom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source