Nike Announces $12 B Repurchase Plan, Abercrombie Soars on Earnings

Mukesh Buch
20 Nov, 2015
New York City

Abercrombie & Fitch net soared but sales dropped 4%. Foot Locker net tumbled 33%. Esterline net swung to profit after revenues surged. Gap profit plunged 29%. Hibbett Sports lifted outlook. HRG net loss widened. Nike announces $12 billion share buyback plan.

[R]12:25 PM New York – Abercrombie & Fitch net soared but sales dropped 4%. Foot Locker net tumbled 33%. Esterline net swung to profit after revenues surged. Gap profit plunged 29%.Hibbett Sports lifted outlook. HRG net loss widened. Nike announces $12 billion share buyback plan.[/R]

Tollbooth Index jumped 85.35 or 0.8% to 11,022.60.

Earnings Review

Abercrombie & Fitch Co ((ANF)) surged 19.8% or $3.86 to $23.35 after the apparel retailer said sales in the third-quarter ending in October dropped 4% from a year ago to $878.6 million.

Comparable store sales in the quarter fell 1%.

Net income in the quarter soared 130.2% to $41.9 million or 60 cents per diluted share compared to $18.2 million or 25 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Foot Locker, Inc ((FL)) jumped 4.8% or $2.94 to $64.47 after the shoes and apparel retailer reported total sales in the third-quarter ending in October increased 3.6% from a year ago to $1.79 billion.

Comparable store sales in the quarter surged 8.7%.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 33.3% to $80 million or 57 cents per diluted share compared to $120 million or 82 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Esterline Technologies Corporation ((ESL)) soared 7.9% or $6.35 to $86.71 after the aerospace and defense products maker said revenues in the fourth-quarter ending on October 2 soared 11.6% from a year ago to $349.6 million.

Net in the quarter swung to profit $2.99 million or 10 cents per diluted share compared to a loss of $31.4 million or 98 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

The Gap, Inc ((GPS)) advanced 6.1% or $1.53 to $26.61 after the apparel, accessories, and personal care products retailer reported total sales in the third-quarter ending in October dropped 3% from a year ago to $3.86 billion.

Comparable store sales in the quarter slipped 2%.

Net income in the quarter plunged 29.3% to $248 million or 61 cents per diluted share compared to $351 million or 80 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Hibbett Sports, Inc ((HIBB)) soared 15.5% or $4.44 to $33.09 after the sporting goods retailer stated net sales in the third-quarter ending in October advanced 4.6% from a year ago to $228.3 million.

Comparable store sales in the quarter rose 0.6%.

Net income in the quarter rose 10.7% to $18.7 million or 79 cents per diluted share compared to $16.9 million or 67 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

The retailer lifted diluted earnings per share forecast for the year in the range of $2.87 to $2.94 from previously estimated range of $2.80 to $2.90 and comparable store sales are expected to be flat.

HRG Group Inc ((HRG)) fell 5 cents to $13.90 after the diversified company said total revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in September declined 4% from a year ago to $1.45 billion.

Net loss in the quarter widened to $143.1 million or 73 cents per diluted share compared to $6.3 million or 3 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

Nike, Inc ((NKE)) jumped 4.8% or $5.97 to $131.75 after the athletic footwear, apparel, equipment maker announced today that its board of directors approved a new four-year, $12 billion program to repurchase shares of Class B Common Stock.

The company anticipates that the current $8 billion share repurchase program will be completed before the end of fiscal 2016.

As of November 16, the company had an approx 678 million shares of Class B Common Stock outstanding.

Nike said since last 14 years, it had returned more than $23 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

Separately, the board of directors approved the two-for-one split of both NIKE’s Class A and Class B common shares.

The stock split will be in the form of a 100 percent stock dividend payable on December 23, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business December 9, 2015.

Upon completion of split, the outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock will increase to approx 353 million and 1.36 billion respectively likely to begin trading on December 24.