Can Aeropostale Beat These Numbers?

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Aeropostale (NYS: ARO) is expected to report Q2 earnings on Aug. 16. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Aeropostale's revenues will increase 4.7%.

The average estimate for revenue is $490.0 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.00.


Revenue details
Last quarter, Aeropostale tallied revenue of $497.2 million. GAAP reported sales were 6.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $469.2 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.13. GAAP EPS of $0.13 for Q1 were 35% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.20 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 28.0%, 110 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 3.4%, 250 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 2.1%, 140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
The full year's average estimate for revenue is $2.47 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.12.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 984 members out of 1,051 rating the stock outperform, and 67 members rating it underperform. Among 256 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 239 give Aeropostale a green thumbs-up, and 17 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Aeropostale is outperform, with an average price target of $20.71.

If you're invested in retailers like Aeropostale, you should check out the concept that is The Motley Fool's top stock for 2012. Its founder wrote the book on big box retailing, and it's growing in increasingly important international markets. Click here for instant access to this free report.

The article Can Aeropostale Beat These Numbers? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Aeropostale. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement