The U.S. retailers reported Thursday morning mixed results in January, blaming belated cold winter weather which prevented merchants from clearing out winter inventory. However, the strong sales of holiday gift cards provided a lift. The retailers reporting upbeat results included Limited Brands and Wet Seal Inc. Wal-Mart Stores beat analyst estimates, despite the modest advance. Costco Wholesale and Bebe Stores stood out in the group posting disappointing sales results.
Wal-Mart (
WMT: chart), the world''s largest retailer, posted a modest 2.2% increase rise in same-store sales, beating the 1.8% estimate. Limited Brands (
LTD: chart) reported an 11% gain in same-store sales, beating the 7.8% forecast. American Eagle Outfitters (
AEOS: chart) reported a 17% increase in same-store sales, above the 10.9% forecast. Federated Department Stores Inc. (
FD: chart) said January same-store sales rose 8.6%, beating forecast of 4.6%. Total sales rose 19% to $1.78 billion. The retailer projected Q4 net income of $1.55 a share to $1.60 share, higher than its earlier forecast of $1.40 to $1.50 a share. BJs Wholesale Club Inc. (
BJ: chart) said January same-store sales rose 3.5%, beating forecast of 1.5% increase. Total sales increased by 8.5% to $724.2 million. Wet Seal (
WTSLA: chart) reported a 3.6% gain in same-store sales, above the 2.2% estimate.
The Gap Inc. (
GPS: chart), apparel retailer, announced flat January same-store, exceeding estimates of a decline of 7.7% for the month. Net sales rose to $1.19 billion from $955 million in the same period a year earlier. Looking ahead, the company said it expects earnings of 89 to 91 cents a share for 2006. Hot Topic Inc. (
HOTT: chart), teen retailer, said that its same-store sales dropped 6.6%, slightly above the 6.1% projection.
Among companies releasing lower-than-anticipated results, Costco Wholesale Corp., (
COST: chart), warehouse retailer, said that January same-store sales rose 2%, missing estimates of 3% increase. Monthly total sales climbed 7%. Bebe (
BEBE: chart) posted a modest 0.8% gain in same-store sales, below the 1.9% previously expected.
Abercrombie & Fitch (
ANF: chart), clothing retailer, reported January same-store sales drop of 6%, coming in below expectations of a drop of 1.9%. Net sales rose 37% to $252.3 million. The retailer said sales in its fiscal 2006 rose 19% to $3.32 billion from $2.79 billion.
| 2007 SAME-STORE SALES |
| Company | Ticker | January | February | March | April | May | June | July |
| Apparel Retailers |
| Abercrombie & Fitch | ANF | -6.00% | | | | | | |
| Aeropostale | ARO | 5.40% | | | | | | |
| AmericanEagle | AEOS | 17.00% | | | | | | |
| AnnTaylor | ANN | -10.20% | | | | | | |
| Bebe | BEBE | 0.80% | | | | | | |
| Buckle | BKE | 7.80% | | | | | | |
| Cato | CTR | -7.00% | | | | | | |
| CharmingShoppes | CHRS | NA | | | | | | |
| Chico's | CHS | -3.50% | | | | | | |
| Children'sPlace, The | PLCE | 3.00% | | | | | | |
| Christopher & Banks | CBK | -4.00% | | | | | | |
| CitiTrends | CTRN | 3.20% | | | | | | |
| Claires | CLE | 3.00% | | | | | | |
| DebShops | DEBS | -3.80% | | | | | | |
| Dillards | DDS | -3.00% | | | | | | |
| DressBarn | DBRN | 8.00% | | | | | | |
| Federated Dept. | FD | 8.60% | | | | | | |
| Gap | GPS | 0.00% | | | | | | |
| Gottschalks | GOT | -1.00% | | | | | | |
| Guess | GES | NA | | | | | | |
| Gymboree | GYMB | 0.00% | | | | | | |
| Hot Topic | HOTT | -6.60% | | | | | | |
| J.C. Penney | JCP | 3.60% | | | | | | |
| Jo-AnnStores | JAS | -6.30% | | | | | | |
| Jos.A.Bank | JOSB | -4.70% | | | | | | |
| Kohl's | KSS | 8.70% | | | | | | |
| LimitedBrands | LTD | 11.00% | | | | | | |
| Men'sWearhouse | MW | NA | | | | | | |
| MotherWorks | MWRK | -6.00% | | | | | | |
| Nordstrom | JWN | 11.00% | | | | | | |
| Pacific Sunwear | PSUN | -7.70% | | | | | | |
| Ross Stores | ROST | 2.00% | | | | | | |
| Saks | SKS | 11.40% | | | | | | |
| SteinMart | SMRT | -1.90% | | | | | | |
| Talbots | TLB | NA | | | | | | |
| TJX | TJX | 4.00% | | | | | | |
| Drug Stores |
| CVS | CVS | 8.60% | | | | | | |
| Walgreen | WAG | 10.80% | | | | | | |
| Wholesale Stores |
| BJ's Wholesale Club | BJ | 3.50% | | | | | | |
| Costco | COST | 2.00% | | | | | | |
| Family Dollar | FDO | 0.10% | | | | | | |
| Shoe Stores |
| DSW | DSW | NA | | | | | | |
| Payless Shoesource | PSS | NA | | | | | | |
| FinishLine | FINL | NA | | | | | | |
| Discount Retailers |
| Target | TGT | 5.10% | | | | | | |
| Wal-Mart Stores | WMT | 2.20% | | | | | | |
| Pier1 Imports | PIR | -13.20% | | | | | | |
| Sharper Image | SHRP | -25.00% | | | | | | |
| Miscellaneous |
| BigLots | BIG | NA | | | | | | |
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