Abercrombie & Fitch Wins Big With Q4 Guidance

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 4:15AM EST · Published Jan 22, 11:30AM EST

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Abercrombie & Fitch Wins Big With Q4 Guidance — © Thinkstock

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) shares made a handy gain to kick off the week after the company issued a business update. Besides shuffling some board members, this retailer reported an updated outlook for its fiscal fourth quarter. After hearing this announcement, we can expect that analysts will soon have something to say about the company’s outlook as well.

For this quarter, the company expects to see comparable sales up high-single digits, compared to the previous outlook of up low-single digits. Net sales are expected to be up low-teens, compared to the previous outlook of up mid- to high-single digits.

The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters call for $0.84 in earnings per share (EPS) and $1.1 billion in revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter. In the same period of last year, the company reported EPS of $0.75 and $1.04 billion in revenue.

Also, the company is currently assessing the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 but expects to recognize a significant income tax charge in the fourth quarter primarily related to the one-time deemed repatriation tax on accumulated foreign earnings.

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Apart from this, Abercrombie announced that Arthur C. Martinez will step down as executive chair of its board of directors at the end of this fiscal year (February 3, 2018). This is in connection with his plans to retire as a director and not stand for reelection at the 2018 annual meeting of shareholders in June.

At that time, Terry L. Burman, lead independent director and chair of the Nominating and Board Governance Committee will assume the role of non-executive chair.

Chief Executive Officer Fran Horowitz commented on the updated numbers:

We are pleased by our performance across all brands and channels during the holiday season, with continued strength at Hollister, and the Abercrombie brand on track to deliver positive comparable sales for the quarter. Our customers remain at the center of all we do, and that singular focus has continued to drive both our brands forward.

Shares of Abercrombie were up about 10% at $21.96 Monday morning, with a consensus analyst price target of $14.62 and a 52-week range of $8.81 to $22.03.

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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.