Did you catch the action in Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) today? The market apparently loved the data in the fourth-quarter report. With a little more than an hour to go before the end of the regular session, I'm seeing a quote of $57.37. That puts the gain in the shares at 7.4%. Volume is quite strong.

The 52-week low for this retailer is $29.94 and the 52-week high is $58.50. The chart shows the upward movement in the stock over the last twelve months. Not the smoothest rise ever plotted on a graph, but a rise nonetheless.

Continue reading Abercrombie & Fitch Near 52-Week High After Q4 Report

Abercrombie & Fitch Near 52-Week High After Q4 Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Aeropostale: Buy the Sell-Off or Not?

Aeropostale: Buy the Sell-Off or Not? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ann Taylor Stores, Corp. (ANN) is doing extremely well this afternoon. At the time of this writing, shares of the company were up 9% to $25.90. What a move. It probably goes without saying that it was backed by high volume.

The 52-week low for the stock is $11.59 while the 52-week high, which was reached earlier in the intraday session, is currently set at $26.12. There is definitely a bullish aura surrounding this equity. The one-year chart shows a nice recent uptrend, as well as a desire to move past resistance levels defined back in the springtime. So, should investors still be interested at this point?

Continue reading Ann Taylor Reports Q3 Numbers: Market Likes What It Sees

Ann Taylor Reports Q3 Numbers: Market Likes What It Sees originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) isn't doing much. At the time of this writing, it was down a penny to $16.28. That's off from the 52-week high of $19.64, but significantly above the 52-week low of $11.35. The one-year chart shows how the shares have experienced a rebound as of late.

Yesterday morning, the chain released its Q3 earnings report. According to BusinessWeek, adjusted income from continuing operations of 29 cents per share met the overall projection. Shareholders always want to see a beat, so the performance was somewhat disappointing from that angle.

Continue reading American Eagle Outfitters Has Unexciting, but Acceptable, Quarter

American Eagle Outfitters Has Unexciting, but Acceptable, Quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Macy's Down on Q3 News

Macy's Down on Q3 News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Aeropostale (ARO), a mall chain with colleagues like American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Gap (GPS), reported same-store sales for the month of September this week. They seemed relatively decent to me, even though they didn't measure up to the previous year's performance.

Last month, the company saw a 3% expansion in the metric, according to the press release. By comparison, same-store sales rose 19% in September 2009. Hey, don't fret about it. You're not going to generate growth like that all the time; it just doesn't happen. A 3% increase is fine considering the economy. On a year-to-date basis, comps are higher by 4% versus a gain of 12% in last year's similar frame.

Continue reading Is Aeropostale a Buy After the Latest Comps Report?

Is Aeropostale a Buy After the Latest Comps Report? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 09 Oct 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading J. Crew Sells Off on Q2 News

J. Crew Sells Off on Q2 News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading American Eagle in the Green After Q2 Earnings

American Eagle in the Green After Q2 Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hot Topic: Not So Hot

Hot Topic: Not So Hot originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Aeropostale, Inc. (ARO), a mall retailer whose related companies include American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and The Gap Inc. (GPS), was down this afternoon as the market digested the Q2 numbers that were released yesterday after the bell. With a little over two hours to go before the end of the session, shares of the business were off by 2.5% to $22.64. Volume, so far, was below average.

Perhaps the fact that the volume was relatively slow in coming is a good sign. Maybe the net-income stat is an even better sign. As the press release glowingly reports, earnings per share jumped 21% to 46 cents per share.

Continue reading Aeropostale Down After Q2 News

Aeropostale Down After Q2 News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Abercrombie & Fitch Down on Q2 Results

Abercrombie & Fitch Down on Q2 Results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading J. Crew Group's Q1: Income and Comps Were Beyond Cool

J. Crew Group's Q1: Income and Comps Were Beyond Cool originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 May 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), a fashion chain that competes for the attention of the mall shopper with American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Gap (GPS), is selling off in afternoon trading while I write this. My screen showed the shares down $1.72, or 4.2%, to $39.06. Volume, however, wasn't too bad with roughly a few hours to go before the close of the trading session; it was below the norm, but I do expect it to be above average by the time all is said and done. The company reported Q1 stats today, and that is obviously what's driving the bearish sentiment, in part at least.

As can be seen from the one-year chart, the stock has sailed some choppy seas over the last several months. After hitting a 52-week high of over $50, the shares started to slide. Some of that weakness can be attributed to what's happening in the market vis-a-vis the Greece situation.

Continue reading Abercrombie & Fitch: Trade or Stay Away?

Abercrombie & Fitch: Trade or Stay Away? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 May 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) is down in afternoon trading. A quote of $39.58 just went by my screen, which represents a decline of $1.71, or over 4%. Volume is high. The market as a whole is pretty bad, so some of the stock's bleeding has to be related to the negative sentiment hitting the major indexes, but the retailer, whose colleagues include The Gap, Inc. (GPS) and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (JCP), did issue a first-quarter earnings report yesterday after the bell, so we'll have to check that out to see if anything fundamental might be up.

I'll tell you, I thought the press release contained some impressive numbers. Earnings per share increased 40% to 52 cents. Same-store sales rocked with a double-digit jump of 12%. How can the traders be down on that data?

Continue reading Nordstrom Down on Q1 News

Nordstrom Down on Q1 News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 May 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Urban Outfitters Down on Q1 News

Urban Outfitters Down on Q1 News originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Macy's Inc. (M) is trading higher today. With a little less than two hours to go before the close of the regular session, the retailer, whose competitors include The Gap Inc. (GPS) and Kohl's Corporation (KSS), was higher by 63 cents, or 2.6%, to $24.53. Volume was healthy.

The stock isn't far from the 52-week high of $25.25. The 52-week low is $10.27, so the equity has come a long way since it was stuck in the doldrums. The one-year chart shows a reasonably attractive uptrend. Earlier today, the company reported its Q1 numbers. How did they look?

Continue reading Macy's Improves in Q1: Is It a Buy?

Macy's Improves in Q1: Is It a Buy? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 May 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

If you own shares of Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN), I assume you were pretty pleased with the Q4 report. The retailer, whose mall cohorts include The Gap Inc. (GPS) and JCPenney Company, Inc. (JCP), grew the top line by over 10%. Per-share profit increased over 150% to 77 cents. Gross margin expanded, as there was a reduction in the need for markdowns. And, perhaps most awesome of all, same-store sales roared higher by 6.9%.

All of that is great, but here's the thing that is probably inhibiting a big buying response for the stock. According to our earnings preview, Wall Street was expecting a little more on the bottom line. Two pennies more, in fact. Even with all those great stats, management missed projections.

Continue reading Great Quarter for Nordstrom, but Wall Street Isn't Satisfied

Great Quarter for Nordstrom, but Wall Street Isn't Satisfied originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:30:00 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.

Anyway, Coach said total sales increased 11% in the second quarter. North American same-store sales advanced over 3%. Earnings came in at 75 cents per share, 8 cents better than last year's income stat. Earnings.com says Wall Street was looking for 72 cents per share.

Continue reading Coach Sells Off on a Decent Quarter

Coach Sells Off on a Decent Quarter originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.