I'm characterizing this as odd because I guess I was expecting to see a big beat on the bottom line after observing the strong rally in the stock. At the time of this writing, shares of the retailer were trading higher by over 6%, with tons of volume backing the bid.

Continue reading American Eagle Outfitters Rallies on Q4 Stats

American Eagle Outfitters Rallies on Q4 Stats originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), whose mall colleagues include American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Gap (GPS), closed over 4% higher on Tuesday on active volume. The market liked the fourth quarter numbers. I did not.

Let's see. Total sales were down 5%. Same-store sales skidded 13%. Total company domestic sales contracted 12%. And net income came in at 91 cents per share, adjusted. This compared unfavorably to the $1.06 per share made in the year-ago period.

Continue reading Abercrombie & Fitch Posts Lower Sales in Q4

Abercrombie & Fitch Posts Lower Sales in Q4 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 -- Part 9 + Apple

Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 -- Part 9 + Apple originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 Part 8: Making some cuts

Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 Part 8: Making some cuts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Aeropostale (ARO), a mall business whose related stocks include Gap (GPS) and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), closed up over 4% at the end of Monday's trading session. The catalyst? According to the corporate press release, management has decided to allocate an additional $250 million to its share buyback program.

This is very interesting news because the big question on every investor's mind has to do with the current holiday season. How well will retailers fare during Christmas? Or, more accurately, will Christmas be as bad as everyone thinks it will be?

Continue reading Buy Aeropostale after the increase in share repurchases?

Buy Aeropostale after the increase in share repurchases? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Back in August, I discussed my amazement at Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF). The stock just didn't seem to be acting in a manner which reflected the fundamentals of the business it represents. Well, my bout of amazement continues, because shares of the retailer are up 9% as of this writing on the latest earnings report. One that didn't impress me.

For the third quarter, Abercrombie made, on a reported basis, 44 cents per diluted share compared to 72 cents per diluted share in the year-ago period. After adjustments, earnings came in at 30 cents per share. Okay, that profit drop is bad enough, but wait till I get to the really bad stuff. Which would be revenues. Total sales declined 15%, but same-store sales were even worse: they plunged off the proverbial cliff, falling 22%.

Continue reading Abercrombie & Fitch: A momentum play after Q3 release?

Abercrombie & Fitch: A momentum play after Q3 release? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 -- Part 1

Chasing Value: Ten stocks for 2010 -- Part 1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2009 blazing picks -- Q3 review

Chasing Value: 2009 blazing picks -- Q3 review originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading American Eagle (AEO) revises Q2 guidance higher

American Eagle (AEO) revises Q2 guidance higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last summer we lamented the price of gas. This year, however, there's at least one upside. Retail sales for June were up 0.6% - substantially better than the 0.4% anticipated - with the gas prices leading the charge. A slight tip in the brutalized auto manufacturer sector helped, as well. This was the largest retail sales increase in five months.

Gas stations benefited from the cost of fuel, adding a bit of pep to a beleaguered retail industry: sales were up 5% year over year, after doing the same in May. And, car dealers had their best month since January: the sales of cars and parts climbed 2.3%. Nonetheless, this corner of the retail world is still off 14.5% from last year. It may have helped last month, but we're still pretty far from a cure.

Continue reading Gas prices drive retail sales rebound, coveted brands still struggle

Gas prices drive retail sales rebound, coveted brands still struggle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) rises on Q1 earnings

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) rises on Q1 earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 May 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Anyway, Abercrombie, which shares space at the mall with names like J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Gap (NYSE: GPS), and Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), saw its top line decline by 24%. Same-store sales for the company's entire operations dropped 30%. Same-store sales at the Abercrombie & Fitch brand itself plunged 26%. Earnings per share took a dive of more than 50% to $0.31. It should be noted, however, that there is a pending non-cash charge that will be added to these results at a later time.

Continue reading Abercrombie & Fitch sees huge sales decline in Q1

Abercrombie & Fitch sees huge sales decline in Q1 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 15 May 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Aeropostale beats analysts, grows earnings and comps, but stock still sells off ... why?

Aeropostale beats analysts, grows earnings and comps, but stock still sells off ... why? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), whose mall colleagues include Gap (NYSE: GPS), Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN), posted Q4 earnings on Wednesday.

The Christmas season was a difficult one for the chain. Sales decreased 9%, and same-store sales declined a whopping 16%. Ouch, sorry to hear that, American Eagle. Earnings came in at 19 cents per share, meeting analysts expectations.

It's the same old story: to move merchandise, things had to be marked down. And that affected profits. Big time.

Continue reading American Eagle meets expectations in Q4, but comps see huge decline

American Eagle meets expectations in Q4, but comps see huge decline originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

J. Crew Group (NYSE: JCG) issued a Q4 report that the market seemed to like. The retailer posted a loss of 22 cents per share on Tuesday after the bell. As I said in my earnings preview, Wall Street was bracing for a loss of 27 cents per share. That five-penny beat helped to send J. Crew's shares up by well over 10% in the after-hours session.

I think the buying was a bit overdone. Sure, I'll give credit where credit is due. Management did beat the analysts and their precious earnings models. How much credit should I give beyond that?

Continue reading J. Crew beats analysts, but the stock is not in fashion to me

J. Crew beats analysts, but the stock is not in fashion to me originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: No secret for market turn-around -- AAPL, AEO, CISCO, & ISRG

Serious Money: No secret for market turn-around -- AAPL, AEO, CISCO, & ISRG originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Nostradamus was a punk! Have we reached bottom?

Nostradamus was a punk! Have we reached bottom? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The 2009 clock is ticking loudly. The year has started off with a lot of continued turbulence. We have a new president, Barack Obama, who will boldly lead us where no man has gone before -- two trillion further in debt, most likely.

Not that this is his doing, but it is his chosen calling, and right now he is calling out to the Senate minority to compromise, and get yet another federal stimulus package off the shelf and out the door.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2009 picks -- news and views

Chasing Value: 2009 picks -- news and views originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Anybody have capital gains to show this year? I didn't think so. Not unless you were shorting the market, and in particular financials. I got clobbered with everyone else. There were not many places to hide. Picking winners was like guessing where each piece of debris would land after the tornado moved through town.

The average crystal ball is looking quite foggy about now, nevertheless I have rummaged throughout the stock market to select nine stocks that I think offer more reward than risk. The market is priced for the worst in so many cases that I think the list could have included 50 companies without too much trouble.

In 2007 and 2008 I owned some but not all of the picks for the year. This year I own all of the stocks and they were all acquired in the latter part of the fourth quarter for a new portfolio.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 9 picks for 2009 -- APC, GE, ISRG, WFC and more

Chasing Value: 9 picks for 2009 -- APC, GE, ISRG, WFC and more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Youth-retailer Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) had a much better third quarter than I thought it would have. I was expecting a lower earnings growth rate and a worse performance in terms of same-store sales. Diluted earnings per share actually rose over 30%, coming in at $0.63. Way to go. And this performance beat expectations by a penny, according to Reuters Estimates. Net sales increased 17%. Double-digit expansion in both the top and bottom lines really is something to crow about in this terrible mall environment.

At least as far as I'm concerned, the 5% fall in same-store sales for the month of November wasn't too bad, especially considering that comps increased 7% for Q3 as a whole. Plus, on a year-to-date basis, comps rose 7%. Management can be proud of its achievements. However, that 5% drop in comparable sales for November is, unfortunately, a sticking point in terms of buying the retailer's stock. The economy has gotten much worse since I wrote about Aeropostale back in August. This decline might be a precursor to more bad times ahead. In fact, the stock is no longer as strong as it was earlier in the year. Shares of Aeropostale are trading closer to a 52-week low as opposed to a 52-week high.

There's no question that Aeropostale, whose colleagues at the mall include Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), Gap (NYSE: GPS) and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), has been efficiently marketing to its target audience. There's also no question that now may not be the time to roll the dice on a business that caters to fickle demos. Personally, I think Aeropostale offers value at these levels. But I'd still rather wait for the macro economy to improve before getting into this retailer.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Aeropostale reports a good quarter, but should you buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.