American Eagle Outfitters Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

American Eagle Outfitters (NYS: AEO) reported earnings on March 6. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Feb. 2 (Q4), American Eagle Outfitters met expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew. Non-GAAP earnings per share expanded significantly. GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.


Margins grew across the board.

Revenue details
 American Eagle Outfitters reported revenue of $1.12 billion. The 21 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for a top line of $1.12 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 7.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $1.04 billion.

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

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.55. The 26 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.56 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.55 for Q4 were 57% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.35 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.47 for Q4 were 81% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.26 per share.

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

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 41.2%, 710 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 15.6%, 560 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.5%, 360 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $729.1 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.24.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $3.62 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.57.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,144 members out of 2,307 rating the stock outperform, and 163 members rating it underperform. Among 730 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 696 give American Eagle Outfitters a green thumbs-up, and 34 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on American Eagle Outfitters is outperform, with an average price target of $24.61.

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The article American Eagle Outfitters Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson owned shares of the following at the time of publication: American Eagle Outfitters. 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 has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

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