Abercrombie and Fitch soars after upping fourth-quarter guidance
Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
$117.18
05:50 23/04/24
Shares of clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch soared in early trade on Thursday after the group projected same-store sales to come in ahead of analysts’ estimates in the all-important holiday quarter.
On the back of strong sales at its Hollister and flagship stores, Abercrombie now expects fourth-quarter same-store sales to increase in the low single digits - ahead of the 0.6% expected on the Street.
Sales at established stores rose 3% in the three months ended 3 November, also above the 1.6% increase estimated by analysts.
Net income improved 136% year-on-year to $23.9m, or $0.35 on a per share basis, while net sales rose 0.2% to $861.2m.
Excluding one-time items, Abercrombie earned $0.33 per share. Analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $0.20 per share.
Revenues of $861.2m also topped forecasts of $853m.
Digital sales were up 16% globally as the group invested further into cutting out competition from online giants such as Amazon.
Chief executive Fran Horowitz, said: "We had a solid start to the holiday season."
The Ohio-based company also revealed that it has promoted the head of Hollister, Kristin Scott, to the newly created position of Global Brands president.
As of 1500 GMT, Abercrombie shares had shot up 21.79% to $20.85 each.