Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Jan. 30, 2021

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date or “exit price.” The inputs used to measure fair value are generally classified into the following hierarchy:


Level 1:						Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities
Level 2:						Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, or unadjusted quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, or inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability
Level 3:						Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability

The following table sets forth TJX’s financial assets and liabilities that are accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis:


	Fiscal Year Ended
In thousands	January 30, 2021		February 1, 2020
Level 1
Assets:
Executive Savings Plan investments	$	363,729	$	305,777
Level 2
Assets:
Foreign currency exchange contracts	$	4,149	$	7,240
Diesel fuel contracts	4,880		—
Liabilities:
Foreign currency exchange contracts	$	21,921	$	10,278
Diesel fuel contracts	—		9,927

Investments designed to meet obligations under the Executive Savings Plan are invested in registered investment companies traded in active markets and are recorded at unadjusted quoted prices.

Foreign currency exchange contracts and diesel fuel contracts are valued using broker quotations, which include observable market information. TJX does not make adjustments to quotes or prices obtained from brokers or pricing services but does assess the credit risk of counterparties and will adjust final valuations when appropriate. Where independent pricing services provide fair values, TJX obtains an understanding of the methods used in pricing. As such, these instruments are classified within Level 2.

The fair value of TJX’s general corporate debt was estimated by obtaining market quotes given the trading levels of other bonds of the same general issuer type and market perceived credit quality. These inputs are considered to be Level 2. The fair value of long-term debt at January 30, 2021 was $5.9 billion compared to a carrying value of $5.3 billion. The fair value of the current portion of long-term debt as of January 30, 2021 was $754 million compared to a carrying value of $750 million. For additional information on the new debt issuances, see Note K—Long-Term Debt and Credit Lines. The fair value of long-term debt at February 1, 2020 was $2.3 billion compared to a carrying value of $2.2 billion. These estimates do not necessarily reflect provisions or restrictions in the various debt agreements that might affect TJX’s ability to settle these obligations.

TJX’s cash equivalents are stated at cost, which approximates fair value due to the short maturities of these instruments.

Certain assets and liabilities are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis, where as the assets and liabilities are not measured at fair value on an ongoing basis, but are subject to fair value adjustments in certain circumstances, such as when there is evidence of an impairment. For the years ended January 30, 2021, February 1, 2020 and February 2,
2019, the Company did not record any material impairments to long-lived assets.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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