For December and November 2010, net sales increased 15% to $520 million. Comparable store net sales were flat while comparable retail segment net sales, which include direct-to-consumer channels, increased 5%.
URBN reported that its Q3 earnings increased 17% to $73 million from the same period last year while total company net sales rose 13% to $574 million. Comparable net sales grew 1% for the quarter.
Jcrew, BBY, Norstrom are all trading similar pattern. While valuation looks attractive, 2H EPS might get revised downwards. Despite overall market rebounds in July, shares remain weak and continue to slide. This goes to support that if a company has weak trend / outlook, it might not rebound along with borader market
causious outlook
URBN announced the appointment of Oona McCullough as Director of Investor Relations to replace John Kyees upon his retirement June 30, 2010. Ms. McCullough brings more than 14 years of experience in capital markets research and strategy to Urban Outfitters, Inc. Most recently, she was a Vice President at BlackRock, Inc., where she performed equity research on the consumer sector, focusing on the specialty retail industry
During fiscal Q3 2010 (ended October 31, 2009), URBN's retail chains announced net earnings of $62 million, and net sales increased by 6% compared to the prior-year quarter. Operating margin improved to 19%, mainly due to strict cost-cutting measures, and comparable sales improved due to market-share gains.
Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2010 increased 1% from the same period in fiscal 2009. Comparable store sales decreased by 6.2%. Despite the decrease in store sales, the company's increased revenue in addition to its international expansion have made it attractive to investors.
After posting a loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, analysts downgraded URBN from "buy" to a "hold" rating, decreasing confidence in the retailer and causing a decrease in the company's stock price.
Third quarter total sales increased to $478 million. The company also achieved earnings of 35 cents per share for this quarter alone. Total comp store sales increased by 10%
The financial crisis of 2008, which has since developed into a recession, has made consumers reluctant to spend money on non-essential goods. Retailers from The Gap to Saks Fifth Avenue have had trouble keeping consmers spending. In other words, consumer and investor confidence in the retail industry has waned, leading to a large-scale decrease in stock prices, which have since stagnated at a lower level than they were before the crisis began.
Evidence of extremely strong comp-sales leads analysts and company officials to raise their growth expectations and earnings expectations for the quarter.
