Urban Outfitters Inc.
(
URBN
), the retailer of apparel, footwear and accessories, and an
S&P 500 company, is scheduled to report its third quarter
financial results for fiscal year ending January 2013, on Monday,
November 19.
The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is pegged
at 41 cents a share that reflects year-over-year growth of 24.2%
from the prior-year quarter's earnings. The estimates in the
current Zacks Consensus range between a low of 36 cents and a
high of 45 cents a share. The Zacks Consensus estimates revenue
to be at $695 million for the quarter.
Recap of Second-Quarter
Urban Outfitters posted better-than-expected second quarter
fiscal 2013 results. The quarterly earnings of 42 cents a share,
surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents, and surged
20% from 35 cents delivered in the year-ago quarter. Lower shares
outstanding as well as top-line growth benefited the bottom
line.
After registering revenue growth of 8.6% in the first quarter
of 2013, Urban Outfitters said that total net sales climbed 11%
to $676.3 million during the second quarter, and also came ahead
of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $673 million on the back of
new store openings, healthy Direct-to-Consumer sales and strong
wholesale operations. The company is also managing inventory
effectively, resulting in lower merchandise markdowns.
Net sales by brands grew 14.1% to $310.7 million at Urban
Outfitters, 3.4% to $281.8 million at Anthropologie and 25.7% to
$73.8 million at Free
People.
Zacks Agreement & Magnitude
The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained stable over the last 30
days, as only one out of 26 analysts covering the stock, made
upward revisions and none made downward revisions. Also in the
last 7 days, no movement was noticed in the Zacks Consensus
Estimate, as none of the analysts revisited their estimates in
the absence of any major news having a direct or an indirect
impact on the company.
Mixed Earnings Surprise History
With respect to earnings surprises, Urban Outfitters missed as
well as topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate over the last four
quarters in the range of negative 10% to positive 27.3%. The
average remained at 9.7%, suggesting that Urban Outfitters has
outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by the same magnitude in
the trailing four quarters.
Let's Conclude
Being a multi-brand and multi-channel retailer, Urban
Outfitters offers a flexible merchandising strategy. The company
also has a significant domestic and international presence with
rapidly expanding e-commerce activities. It remains committed to
improve comparable-store sales performance, adding new brands and
optimizing inventory levels.
Further, to increase customer count, the company plans to
augment store openings in North America and Europe, open retail
outlets in Asia, enhance online and mobile marketing endeavors,
increase wholesale distribution in Europe and Asia, and
considerably expand direct-to-consumer business worldwide.
Moreover, the company's debt-free balance sheet also augurs well
for future growth.
Currently, we have a long-term Outperform recommendation on
the stock. Moreover, Urban Outfitters, which competes with
Gap Inc.
(
GPS
) and
Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
(
ANF
), retains a Zacks #2 Rank that translates into a short-term Buy
rating.
ABERCROMBIE (ANF): Free Stock Analysis Report
GAP INC (GPS): Free Stock Analysis Report
URBAN OUTFITTER (URBN): Free Stock Analysis
Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research