(Reuters) -Abercrombie & Fitch Co on Wednesday forecast full-year income progress above Wall Road estimates, as the corporate bets on robust full-price demand for its attire manufacturers on the again of a strong vacation buying season.
Attire retailers reminiscent of Abercrombie and Lululemon Athletica have benefited from their efforts to trim inventories and introduce recent kinds on their racks throughout the vacation buying season.
This additionally enabled Abercrombie to tone down reductions for its manufacturers over the vacation interval, which is usually skewed in the direction of greater markdowns and promotions.
Web gross sales progress at its Abercrombie model improved sequentially to 35% within the vacation quarter, from 30% within the third-quarter.
Nonetheless, internet gross sales progress for its Hollister model was 9%, slower than the 11% reported within the prior quarter.
In January, Abercrombie joined Lululemon, and peer American Eagle Clothing store in elevating its fourth-quarter gross sales targets, in a transfer that pointed in the direction of resilience amongst bargain-hunting clients.
The Gilly Hicks mother or father expects internet gross sales progress between 4% to six% for fiscal 12 months 2024, in contrast with the LSEG estimate of 4% progress to $4.43 billion.
The corporate’s forecast is available in distinction to weak forecasts from division retailer retailers reminiscent of Nordstrom and Macy’s , who’ve cautioned about one other 12 months of pressure on discretionary spend amid uneven macro financial circumstances.
Abercrombie’s income rose 21% to $1.45 billion within the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, topping analysts’ expectations of 19% progress to $1.43 billion.
Excluding objects, the Ohio-based firm earned $2.97 per share, forward of estimates of $2.83 per share.
Shares of the retailer, which practically quadrupled final 12 months, are up about 60% thus far this 12 months. They have been down about 3% in risky premarket commerce.
(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum; Enhancing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini Ganguli)
