What Analysts Are Saying After Urban Outfitters Crushed Earnings

By Chris Lange Published Aug 16, 11:20AM EDT

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The retail industry has been in turmoil this year, and as more companies are reporting, it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. However, Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) saw an incredible response following its fiscal second-quarter financial results. Most expected this struggling retailer to tank on this earnings report, but it surprised analysts and investors, bouncing off a multiyear low.

24/7 Wall St. has included some highlights from the earnings report, as well as what a few analysts are saying after the fact.

The retailer said that it had $0.44 in earnings per share (EPS) and $872.9 million in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.37 in EPS and revenue of $861.76 million. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.66 and $890.57 million in revenue.

Comparable retail segment net sales, which includes the comparable direct-to-consumer channel, decreased 4.9%.

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By brand, comparable retail segment net sales increased 2.9% at Free People, but decreased 4.0% at the Anthropologie Group and 7.9% at Urban Outfitters. The decline in comparable retail segment net sales was due to negative retail store sales, which was partially offset by continued sales growth in its direct-to-consumer channel.

Here’s what analysts had to say in the aftermath:

Merrill Lynch reiterated a Buy rating and raised its price target to $24 from $22.
KeyCorp has a Buy rating with a $26 price target.
Jefferies has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $25 from $23.
Goldman Sachs has a Sell rating but raised its price target from $16 to $18.
Robert Baird has a Buy rating with a $22 price target.
RBC has a Sector Perform rating and raised its price target to $21 from $17.
Telsey Advisory Group has a Market Perform rating and raised its target from $20 to $22.
Oppenheimer reiterated a Hold rating.

Shares of Urban Outfitters were last seen up about 20% at $20.22 on Wednesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $19.77 and a 52-week range of $16.68 to $21.31.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.