Post-Earnings Analysis - Abercrombie and Fitch

LONDON, December 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Investor-Edge.com has issued free post-earnings analysis on Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF). On December 03, 2014, the company announced its financial results for Q3 FY14 (period ended November 1, 2014). Click on www.investor-edge.com/FreeReports to read our free earnings review on Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (Abercrombie & Fitch). During Q3 FY14, the company reported net sales of $911.45 million. The CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, stated that the Company's Q3 FY14 results were disappointing and that the young apparel continued to remain in a very challenging environment. He added that the company's comparable sales improved a little in November, and this improvement was maintained through the Black Friday weekend. Our free coverage report can be accessed at:

www.investor-edge.com/register

Earnings Overview 

For Q3 FY14, Abercrombie & Fitch's net sales declined by 12% Y-o-Y from $1,033.29 million reported in Q3 FY13. The company's net sales underperformed Bloomberg analysts' forecasts of $913.28 million. During Q3 FY14, Abercrombie & Fitch's US and International sales also fell by 12% Y-o-Y each, to $594 million and $317 million, respectively. During the quarter, the company's total comparable sales fell 10%, comparable store sales was negative 14% and comparable Direct-to-Consumer sales increased 8%. The free research on ANF can be downloaded as in PDF format at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Abercrombie%20and%20Fitch&d=31-Dec-2014&s=ANF

In Q3 FY14, Abercrombie & Fitch reported GAAP net income of $18.23 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss of $15.64 million, or $0.20 loss per diluted share, in Q3 FY13. Analysts from Bloomberg had expected the company to report GAAP net income of $30.22 million, or $0.41 per diluted share. Excluding certain charges, the company reported adjusted non-GAAP net income of $30.41 million, or $0.42 in Q3 FY14, compared to adjusted non-GAAP net income of $40.55 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, in Q3 FY13. Abercrombie & Fitch's gross profit rate was down by 80 basis points to 62.2% in Q3 FY14.

As of November 01, 2014, Abercrombie & Fitch had cash and cash equivalents of $320.6 million and gross borrowings of $300 million, compared to $257.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and gross borrowings of $138.8 million in FY13. Further, the company repurchased approximately 2.0 million shares of its common stock for $75 million and as on November 1, 2014, the Company had approximately 9.0 million shares remaining for purchase under its publicly announced stock repurchase authorizations. Sign up and read the free analyst's notes on ANF at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Abercrombie%20and%20Fitch&d=31-Dec-2014&s=ANF

Abercrombie & Fitch expects adjusted full year diluted earnings in the range of $1.50-$1.65 per share, assuming a mid-to-high single-digit percentage decline in fourth quarter comparable sales. The company also expects a higher gross margin rate in Q4 FY14 as compared to prior year quarter, but lower than the third quarter year-to-date rate. The above guidance excludes charges related to the Gilly Hicks brand restructuring, the Company's profit improvement initiative, certain corporate governance matters, other potential impairment and store closure charges.

Mr. Jeffries said that on the long-term, the company believes that it is taking the right steps to position itself for future success, including its shift to a branded structure, changes in its assortment and how it engages with its customer, investing in direct-to-consumer and omni-channel, expanding its international reach, closing underperforming stores, and continuing to reduce expense. He added that the aggregate impact of these changes represents a significant transformation for Abercrombie & Fitch, and the company is hopeful that the benefits will start becoming evident as it moves through 2015. Visit Investor-Edge and access the latest research on ANF at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Abercrombie%20and%20Fitch&d=31-Dec-2014&s=ANF

Stock Performance  

On the day of the earnings release, December 3, 2014, Abercrombie & Fitch's stock ended the session at $28.81, up 3.48%. Since then, the company's stock has witnessed a mixed momentum. On the last close, Tuesday, December 30, 2014, the stock finished at $28.76, 0.24% above its previous day's closing price of $28.69, after vacillating between $28.20 and $28.96. A total of 1.03 million shares were traded, which was much below its three months average volume of 2.94 million shares. Over the last one month and since the beginning of 2014, the company's shares have lost 0.31% and 12.61%, respectively. However, the stock has gained 2.49% in the previous three trading sessions. Shares in Abercrombie & Fitch closed below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $29.84 and $36.87, respectively. Moreover, the stock traded at a PE ratio of 18.33 and has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 51.06.

Sneak Peek to Corporate Insider Trading 

In the last one month, Abercrombie & Fitch has not reported any share transactions by insiders to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Complimentary in-depth research on ANF is available at:

http://get.Investor-Edge.com/pdf/?c=Abercrombie%20and%20Fitch&d=31-Dec-2014&s=ANF

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