Abercrombie shares soar 37% on Hollister growth, strong earnings beat

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch soared 37% Tuesday after the company showed investors it's set to keep growing, even as its namesake brand slows down.

During the apparel retailer's fiscal third quarter, Abercrombie brand sales fell 2%. But for at least the third quarter in a row, Hollister saved the retailer, as sales climbed 16%. CEO Fran Horowitz said sales at Abercrombie are expected to be flat in the current quarter, indicating growth at Hollister is set to drive the company's holiday shopping season. 

Companywide, sales rose 7%, beating expectations.

Here's how the apparel retailer did in the period ended Nov. 1 compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

The company's reported net income for the quarter was $113 million, or $2.36 per share, compared with $131.98 million, or $2.50 per share, a year earlier.  

Sales rose to $1.29 billion, up about 7% from $1.21 billion a year earlier. 

The company's namesake banner has fueled its comeback in recent years, but now that the Abercrombie brand's growth has started to moderate, Hollister has picked up the baton. During the quarter, Abercrombie's sales fell to $617.35 million while comparable sales declined by a staggering 7%. Sales came in far below the $631.8 million analysts were expecting, according to StreetAccount.

Meanwhile, Hollister's revenue rose to $673.27 million, well above the $649.7 million analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. Comparable sales rose 15%.

As the retailer heads into the peak shopping season, "Hollister's exciting campaigns and collaborations planned will highlight some must haves," Horowitz said on a call with analysts. "We are just getting started and importantly, our team has been reading and reacting and has the right product to support sales throughout the season."

She also said Abercrombie is investing more in the Hollister brand, as the company is on pace to open 25 stores and refresh 35 others this year.

At the Abercrombie brand, Horowitz said last quarter that the slowdown was related to old inventory the company needed to mark down to sell. She said she expected the brand to be back to growth by the end of the year, but that no longer seems to be the case.

During Abercrombie's conference call, executives didn't answer when asked when the brand will return to growth. It spoke about the "sequential improvement" Abercrombie saw after a 5% decline in revenue in the previous quarter. Horowitz pointed to recent collaborations with the NFL and luxury retailer Kemo Sabe as bright spots for the brand.

"Abercrombie Brands has inventory in the right place and a strong marketing plan heading into holiday," said Horowtiz. "We've opened 30 new stores in the third quarter, aiming for a total of 36 stores this year. We remain focused on bringing the brand back to growth."

For its holiday quarter, Abercrombie is expecting companywide sales to climb between 4% and 6%, which is largely below Wall Street expectations of 5.6% growth, according to LSEG. It anticipates earnings per share will be between $3.40 and $3.70, roughly in line with expectations of $3.55 per share. 

For the full year, it now expects sales to rise between 6% and 7%, largely beating expectations of 6.2% growth, according to LSEG.