American Eagle Holiday Sales Weaker Than Expected
January 08 2016 - 09:30AM
Dow Jones News
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. warned its core sales could miss
expectations for the fourth quarter, despite what the retailer
called a solid holiday season.
Shares plunged 12% to $14 in premarket trading.
The teen retailer said Friday that its sales at established
stores, or same-store sales, are up 4% so far in the quarter.
Analysts polled by Retail Metrics had forecast growth of 4.7% in
the core metric.
Chief Executive Jay Schottenstein said the company saw positive
results at its namesake and Aerie brands and strong online
sales.
American Eagle backed its earnings guidance for the quarter. The
company will release results for the period March 2.
Amid a competitive market for teen retail, American Eagle has
worked lately to revamp its merchandise assortment. It has been
outperforming some of its peers and posting steady core sales
growth.
Holiday sales results from retailers have been a mixed bag so
far, with strong results from retailers such as L Brands Inc. and
disappointing sales from big names such as Macy's Inc. and Gap
Inc.
Overall, consumers didn't pull back as much as feared during the
holidays, but their late spending surge didn't help retailers that
were ill-equipped to deal with changes in behavior that will last
beyond the season.
Traffic to physical stores continued to decline as consumers
shift toward online shopping and spending on travel and
restaurants. Overall, retail sales rose 3.3% from Oct. 31 through
Jan. 4, about the same pace as they grew the previous year,
according to First Data Corp.
Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 08, 2016 09:15 ET (14:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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