In tatters a year ago, niche-brand lifestyle retailerUrban
Outfitters (
URBN
) is on the mend.
The turnaround comes on the heels of a management shake-up,
ongoing efforts to fix fashion missteps and gains in
e-commerce.
Evidence has been building since Urban Outfitters'
second-quarter earnings report on Aug. 21, when six straight
quarters of flat or plunging earnings were reversed as profit
jumped 20% from the year-ago period, sending shares soaring
18%.
Same-store sales also showed improvement, though they were
still way down from the company's double-digit heyday years.
Total revenue grew 11% to $676 million.
A more recent update in an SEC filing on Sept. 10 said that
third-quarter comparable retail net sales were so far trending
"mid-single-digit positive" from a year earlier.
Management will give further business updates in a highly
anticipated "analyst day" on Sept. 27. If the news is positive,
shares could get a further lift, analysts say.
"They are on a slow, methodical turnaround," said Robin
Murchison, a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst. "The investment
community has adjusted expectations from super-strong growth to a
little more methodical growth."
New Management
Early in the year, co-founder Richard Hayne replaced CEO Glen
Senk, who resigned. And Ted Marlow returned to lead the company's
namesake Urban Outfitters Group.
The Urban Outfitters division targets young men and women 18
to 28 with an eclectic mix of trendy apparel, footwear,
accessories and apartment ware. Anthropologie is geared to
"sophisticated and contemporary" women 28 to 45, the company
says.
A third concept, Free People, offers private-label
contemporary casual apparel for young women through its namesake
stores and sells wholesale to department and specialty
stores.
"When they first came on the scene (in the early 1970s) they
created a niche not really out there except for the boutiques,"
Murchison said. "The company goes out and creates a niche vs.
reacting to a niche."
As of July 31, the company operated 207 Urban Outfitters, 173
Anthropologie stores and 72 Free People stores.
Two other concepts are still in early stages, with two stores
each: Wedding concept BHLDN and garden center Terrain.
So what went wrong at the onetime high-growth retail company?
The economy didn't help. But most observers point fingers at
merchandising missteps, which caused sales to slow, especially at
Anthropologie. And excess inventory last year led to sharp
markdowns.
Meanwhile, without new fashion trends to drive sales, Urban
Outfitters' brands lost their edge, analysts say.
"They had a really strong four-year cycle from 2007 to 2010,"
said JP Morgan analyst Brian Tunick. "Dresses were a very hot
trend. It was the beginning of premium denim. Skinny (pants)
started in late 2009 and 2010. The department stores and
specialty stores didn't catch up for a while so it was their
business to be had."
But in 2011, the company had trouble driving further volume
and made "some wrong fashion bets," Tunick said.
"Once fashion wasn't resonating and there was too much
inventory, there was nowhere to go but down," he said.
Tunick says one problem with being ahead of the curve is that
Urban Outfitters lost some of its uniqueness as others copied
it.
"American Eagle Outfitters (
AEO
) started to offer more third-party brands and
accessories.Francesca's (
FRAN
) has taken somewhat of a page out of (Urban Outfitters). And
some department stores also have become a little more unique in
trying to win over (their kind of) customer.
"It's getting harder to stay cool and hip as the landscape has
gotten better," Tunick said.
In addition, the Internet made it easier for smaller brands to
gain traction quickly, he says. He cites Wisteria, Nasty Gal and
LuLu's as examples.
"Online is the wild, wild west right now, with people coming
and going and making big splashes. We'll see in a couple of years
how the flash sites are going, the Gilt Groupes and Rue La
La's."
Murchison says a new silhouette to match the impact of skinny
jeans would especially benefit Anthropologie. "When there's a
trend out there they are early to market. That's what their
customer comes to them for," she said.
"Urban Outfitters was not as bad and got on track sooner than
Anthropologie," she added. "Anthropologie is still trying to
prove itself but the fashion concept has improved."
Murchison says colored pants, prints and patterns are starting
to resonate with customers.
In second-quarter commentary, management cited colored denim
and other bottoms as well as dresses as bright spots across
brands. Also, tighter inventories led to lower markdowns.
Observers are still looking for more meaningful gains in
margins, which have fallen off sharply from their peak.
"Their operating margins over the last 10 years have averaged
15% to 16% but last year they were under 12%," Tunick said. In
the most recent quarter, the operating margin was 14.2%.
Following a 26% fall in earnings last year, analysts expect
profit to rise 33% this fiscal year to $1.58 a share and grow 21%
the next year, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.
Online Sales
The fast-growing Web business has been getting special
attention as management seeks to make the higher-margin business
as much as 50% of total sales over time.
Direct-to-consumer sales account for a hefty 20% of revenue,
much more than for most retailers.
The firm is gearing up a "pick, pack and ship" program that
lets it fulfill online orders from any store or distribution
center in the U.S. Management says the initiative could account
for "many millions of dollars" in added sales in the second half
of this year.
Analysts expect international expansion to become a more
meaningful contributor as the global economy improves.
European operations have softened due mostly to weakness in
the company's London stores. But CEO Hayne stated that they are
not "Euro-skeptics" and would continue to invest there.
Meanwhile, management expects to open 51 new stores this
fiscal year. They'll be split among Urban Outfitters (18),
Anthropologie (16), Free People (15) and one each for BHLDN and
Terrain.
"Terrain has been incubating for several years," Murchison
said. "I think it's a lovely concept. I question whether it can
make money."
"The more intriguing one to me is the wedding concept, BHLDN,"
she added.
Morgan Stanley named Urban Outfitters a "top 2012 pick." And
Janney Capital Markets considers the company a "back-half 2012
turnaround story," driven by reduced markdowns and improved
products at the two biggest divisions.
Said JP Morgan's Tunick: "There's no question that the worst
is behind (them). Now we're starting to see some more
optimism."