Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Plunges as Outlook Underwhelms
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Abercrombie & Fitch (
ANF
) shares sank 12% Wednesday after the apparel retailer's current-quarter profit and full-year sales forecasts disappointed investors.
The company, which owns Hollister in addition to its namesake brand, sees first-quarter
earnings per share (EPS)
between $1.25 and $1.45, well below Visible Alpha consensus of $2.01, in part due to higher inventory levels.
"We have a bit more carryover inventory than last year, which we've been working through to sell through as we've seen these colder temperatures here in January and February," CFO Robert Ball said, according to a transcript of the earnings call provided by AlphaSense.
Abercrombie & Fitch also is forecasting fiscal 2025 sales to rise between 3% and 5%, below Visible Alpha expectations of 5.65% growth.
Q4 Results Top Estimates
The retailer posted fourth-quarter EPS of $3.57 on net sales that rose 9% year-over-year to $1.58 billion. Both beat analysts' estimates.
Abercrombie & Fitch shares, which fell to their lowest level since December 2023, have lost about 40% of their value in the past 12 months.