Urban Outfitters & Abercrombie Surge on Strong Results
Shares of Urban Outfitters (URBN:US) and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF:US) were both trading about 18% and 31% higher, respectively, on Wednesday after retailers reported better-than-expected earnings.
Urban said it saw strong demand for its Anthropologie and Free People brands. For the first quarter, the company reported a profit per share of $0.56 on revenue of $1.11 billion. Analysts were looking for earnings per share of $0.35 on sales of $1.09 billion.
Comparable retail sales surged 5% year-over-year, more than double the 2.4% expected by analysts. This is despite the 13% plunge in Urban Outfitters' comparable sales. Free People and Anthropologie saw their comparable sales rise 17% and 13%, respectively year-on-year.
Investors were also pleased to hear that inventory fell 6.3% to $590.3 million.
“We are pleased to report record first quarter sales and earnings per share driven by a 5% increase in comparable Retail segment sales, strong growth in Nuuly Rent and a significant improvement in gross margins,” said Richard A. Hayne, Chief Executive Officer. “We are equally pleased that Q1’s sales strength has continued quarter-to-date,” finished Mr. Hayne.
Similarly, Abercrombie saw its stock soar after the company delivered decade-high first-quarter net sales. The company posted an adjusted profit per share of $0.39 on revenue of $836 million, crushing the expected loss per share of $0.05 on revenue of $815 million.
Same-store sales jumped 3% in the quarter, beating the expected decline of 1%.
“Looking ahead, we remain cautiously optimistic on consumer demand and our ability to react to a dynamic macro environment, further supported by our strong balance sheet. We are managing inventory tightly and each brand is in a position to chase demand. Importantly, we are progressing on key, strategic investments across stores, digital and technology to deliver growth on both the top and bottom lines from 2022 levels consistent with our Always Forward Plan,” Fran Horowitz, Chief Executive Officer, said.
Congress member Ro Khanna was actively selling URBN shares in the second part of 2022. Therefore he missed the rally in shares, which are up 24.40% year-to-date.
Rep. Khanna was selling on days when shares prices closed in a range of $22.98 to $26.04. The stock was trading near its closing price of $31.35 apiece on Wednesday.
