Press Release: October 5, 2001

WR Hambrecht + Co Initiates Coverage of Tiffany & Co. (TIF) with a Buy Rating and $30 Target

San Francisco, CA, October 5, 2001—WR Hambrecht + Co today initiated research coverage on Tiffany & Co (TIF) with a Buy rating and $30 target. WR Hambrecht’s Specialty Retail analyst Kristine Koerber cites the company’s brand franchise, growth prospects, management team and multi-channel distribution strategy as key reasons for the rating. WR Hambrecht + Co offers all its research reports free and real time at www.wrhambrecht.com.

“We believe that investors should look at the company’s long-term fundamentals of reliable growth coupled with its strong balance sheet with a modest debt level and healthy cash flow generation,” Koerber said.

She added, “While visibility is fogged for the upcoming holiday season, we believe that the fundamental reasons for investing in the Tiffany franchise remains unchanged and the company’s earnings power will recover to normalized levels and above following this period of uncertainty.”

WR Hambrecht + Co estimates Tiffany’s to post EPS of $1.09 on revenues of $1.61 billion in fiscal 2001 and $1.18 on $1.68 billion in fiscal 2002. Tiffany’s reported an EPS of $1.26 on $1.67 billion in fiscal 2000.

Tiffany & Co. designs, manufactures, distributes and retails fine jewelry, timepieces, sterling silver goods, china, crystal, stationery, writing instruments, fragrances and personal accessories.