Yesterday at the trading session a 5.18% increase was seen in the stock of Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE:ARO) and later on in the extended trading period a further 24% rise was seen as well. Moreover the company revealed its fiscal 2014’s fourth quarter’s results which exceeded expectations. Hence, it can be said that the company’s sales for the holiday period were substantially strong.
Another company that revealed similar results as Aeropostale(NYSE:ARO) yesterday was Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN). The company able to boost its stock by 7% during yesterday’s after market hours.
On the other hand Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS) lifted its outlook for fiscal 2014 on the basis of a reduced tax rate as well as the strength that the company observed during its fourth quarter. However, Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS) was unable to generate sales which could exceed expectations during the weeks that followed the busy holiday season.
As per the National Retail Federation, the retail industry in the US saw a 4% increase to $616 billion in its overall sales amid the holiday season. The prediction for the holiday season sales showed a growth of 4.1%. Generally speaking, during the holiday period most retail companies managed to generate around 30% of annual sales along with the annual profits of 40%.
Around this time, the Black Friday and Super Saturday did not go in favour of the sales of the retail companies. However, the sales gained momentum by the end of December and the fall in the gas prices played a role in it. Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE:ARO) revealed an 11% decline in its sales to $594.5 million. Although the sales were lower than last year’s $670 million, they were still higher than what Wall Street had anticipated.
According to Wall Street, the company should have gathered sales of $597 million. The company’s revenues went down 9%; however, it is better than the revenue dip that the company had seen in the previous year along with the estimated decline of 9.2%.
Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO) revealed that its CFO, Marc Miller will now act as the company’s Operating Chief Officer and will look after some important segments of the company like logistics, real estate, construction etc.
The position of the CFO will go to David Dick who is the former CFO of Delia, but since the company filed for bankruptcy David Dick decided to apply for the position of CFO at Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO).The quarterly sales of Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) increased 12% YOY to $998 million. The company’s sales stayed at par with the expectations.
The company also shared that it will be stepping into spring season with fresh inventory for two of its brands Anthropologie and Free People. Gap’s (NYSE:GPS) sales increased 2% amid the holiday period based on the 11% growth that is generated due to the affordability of its brand Old Navy. However, the increase in sales did not have much impact due to the consistent 6% decline that the brand faced.
Gap anticipates that there will be a 3% increase to $4.71 billion in its quarterly revenues. The company revealed a 3% decline in its January sales while the analysts had estimated a 1% decline.
