Abercrombie & Fitch surges 18% after reporting surprise profit

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch soared 18% in premarket trading Wednesday after the mall retailer beat estimates, raised its guidance and reported a surprise profit. 

Here’s how Abercrombie did in its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

• Earnings per share: 39 cents, adjusted, vs. a loss of 5 cents expected
• Revenue: $836 million vs. $815 million expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended April 29 was $16.57 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with a loss of $16.46 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Abercrombie reported per-share profit of 39 cents in the quarter.

Sales rose to $836 million from $812.8 million a year earlier.

Same-store sales were up 3% in the quarter, versus Street Account estimates of a 1% decline.

The apparel retailer raised its guidance following the earnings beat. For fiscal 2023, it now expects net sales to grow between 2% and 4%, compared to a previous range of 1% to 3%. It now expects its operating margin to be in the range of 5% to 6%, compared to its previous outlook of 4% to 5%.

For the fiscal second quarter, the company expects net sales to grow 4% to 6% and an operating margin in the range of 2% to 3%.