The shares of American Eagle Outfitters are trading higher after the company reported stronger than expected earnings for the first quarter.
The stock price of the company was $16.59 per share, up more than 5% around 12:29 in the afternoon in New York.
American Eagle Outfitters financial results
American Eagle Outfitters reported earnings of $0.15 per share for the first quarter compared with $0.02 earnings in the same period a year earlier, and above its EPS guidance of $0.09 to $0.12 per share. Its earnings also beat the $0.12 per share expected by Wall Street analysts.
The company achieved an 8% increase in revenue to $700 million, higher than the $691.5 million consensus estimate. American Eagle Outfitters posted a 7% increase in consolidated comparable sales.
Jay Schottenstein, the interim CEO of American Eagle Outfitters, said, “Our strong first quarter results reflected outstanding merchandise and customer-focused execution. We will continue to raise the bar by offering great product quality, innovation, style and value.”
He added that the company is focused on the market opportunity to leverage its competitive strengths in merchandising, new technologies and capabilities to boost its market share and deliver earnings growth.
American Eagle Outfitters increased its operating income from $8 million to $42 million. Its gross profit climbed 16% to $262 million. The company has $333 million in total merchandise inventories by the end of the period. It ended the quarter with $327 million in total cash and investments.
American Eagle Outfitters opened four new factory stores including one in Mexico, and ten international licensed stores (five in Japan, four in Israel and one in Qatar). The company closed six locations during the quarter.
Business outlook
For the second quarter, American Eagle Outfitters expected to achieve a high, single-digit increase in comparable sales. The company estimated that its earnings will be around $0.11 to $0.14 per share (excluding potential asset impairment and restructuring charges).
American Eagle Outfitters rose to a leading position
Jeff Van Sinderen, an analyst at B. Riley recently commented that American Eagle Outfitters is poised to perform better than competitors this year.
He said, “With ARO [Aeropostale] potentially needing to close a substantial number of stores (losing considerable market share) and ANF [Abercrombie & Fitch] plagued with problems, AEO [American Eagle] has risen to a leading position among the 3 A’s”
