Abercrombie & Fitch Rises After Namesake Brand Recaptures Allure

(Bloomberg) -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rose in early trading on Wednesday after the preppy apparel retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly sales at its namesake clothing line.

• Across its brands, the closely watched metric of same-store sales rose 1%, compared to the 0.70% growth analysts anticipated, according to Consensus Metrix. Abercrombie in particular underpinned the results, with growth of 8% more than double the estimate analysts had predicted. Hollister, the California teen-focused brand, declined 2%, however, worse than estimates.

Key Insights

• Retailers are closely monitoring the COVID-19 outbreak to see how it affects their workforce, stores and supply chains, but few have actually broken down the expected impact. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. didn’t shy away from providing an estimate, however: It factored in the potential effects of the virus into its full-year outlook of net sales to be flat to up 2%. The company said it expects the “majority of the impact” from the virus to occur in the first half of the year.

Market Reaction

• The shares rose as much as 10% in early trading. Abercrombie & Fitch stock has declined 27% this year through yesterday’s close.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordyn Holman in New York at jholman19@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sally Bakewell at sbakewell1@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Roeder

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