Abercrombie expects a strong sixth quarter as growth continues

Abercrombie & Fitch Not giving up his crown anytime soon.

The apparel company issued strong holiday guidance on Tuesday, following a sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit sales growth and another quarter of results that topped expectations. gave Recent arrest The results of the company’s former CEO Mike Jeffries were not affected by sex trafficking.

Here’s how Abercrombie did in its third fiscal quarter compared to Wall Street’s expectations, based on a survey of LSEG analysts:

• Earnings per share: $2.50 vs $2.39 expected.
• Income: $1.21 billion vs. $1.19 billion expected

The company reported net income of $131.98 million, or $2.50 per share, for the three-month period ended Nov. 2, compared with $96.2 million, or $1.83 per share, a year earlier.

Sales rose to $1.21 billion, up 14 percent from $1.06 billion a year ago.

For the all-important holiday shopping quarter, Abercrombie expects sales to rise 5% to 7%, ahead of the 4.8% increase analysts expected, according to LSEG. For the full year, the company is expecting sales to grow between 14% and 15%, up from the 12% to 13% range previously expected. According to LSEG, this new outlook is higher than analysts’ expectations of 12.1 percent growth.

Despite better-than-expected guidance, Abercrombie shares fell about 3% in premarket trading.

In a news release, CEO Fran Horowitz struck a positive note, dismissing those concerns mentioned in the previous quarter About an “increasingly uncertain environment.”

“With broad-based growth across regions and brands, we continue to perform at a high level, leveraging our regional playbooks and operating model. Each of our regions posted double-digit growth in the quarter, up 14% in the US.” grew, EMEA grew 15% and APAC grew 32%,” Horowitz said.

Abercrombie and Hollister brands posted comparable sales growth of 11% and 21%, respectively. Horowitz noted that the strong performance led to growth of 26% for Abercrombie and 7% for Hollister last year.

Under Horowitz’s direction, Abercrombie has become one of the retail industry’s biggest winners. As it builds off of the strong performance it posted last year, it continues to build on those numbers.

To gain momentum, Horowitz is looking to international markets for growth. Abercrombie has also moved into new categories, such as its wedding collection and recent partnership with the NFL. It has also focused on developing its Hollister chain, which caters to Gen Z shoppers, and ensuring the brand is differentiated from Abercrombie, which caters to millennials.

During the quarter, sales at Holster rose 14 percent, accounting for nearly half of all revenue.

As retailers gear up for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season, it seems as though some of the bleak sentiment that clouded the last half of the year has boiled over following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.

For example, Abercrombie and Dick’s Sporting Goods — which both reported earnings on Tuesday — struck a cautious tone when reporting earnings over the summer, but that sentiment has been quickly reversed now that the election is over.

Consumer sentiment has improved since Trump’s election and analysts expect confidence in the election results — regardless of who wins — to be a boon for spending.