Snap Inc Soars on Debut, Abercrombie & Fitch Jumps

Mukesh Buch
02 Mar, 2017
New York City

Abercrombie & Fitch net plunged 15% on 7% drop in revenues. Barnes & Noble agreed to buy MBS Textbook. Burlington Stores net surged 27% and the apparel retailer lifted full-year outlook. Kroger net dropped 10%. Snapchat faces slower user growth.

[R]2:10 PM New York – Abercrombie & Fitch net plunged 15% on 7% drop in revenues. Barnes & Noble agreed to buy MBS Textbook. Burlington Stores net surged 27% and the apparel retailer lifted full-year outlook. Kroger net dropped 10%. Snapchat faces slower user growth.[/R]

Tollbooth Index dropped 61.78 or 0.5% to 11,705.58.

Earnings Review

Abercrombie & Fitch Co ((ANF)) surged 14.7% or $1.72 to $13.41 after the specialty retailer said revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in December declined 7% from a year ago to $1.04 billion.

Comparable store sales in the quarter dropped 5%.

Net income in the quarter plunged 15.4% to $48.8 million or 71 cents per diluted share from $57.7 million or 85 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

The specialty retailer forecasted comparable sales in fiscal 2017 to improve and capital expenditures of about $100 million.

Barnes & Noble, Inc ((BKS)) plunged 9.1% or 90 cents to $9 after the multi-channel bookseller stated total sales in the third-quarter ending in December slumped 8% from a year ago to $1.3 billion.

Comparable store sales in the quarter plummeted 8.3% and online sales increased 2.2%.

Net income in the quarter declined 12.5% to $70.3 million or 96 cents per diluted share from $80.3 million or $1.04 per share in the same quarter last year.

Separately, the bookseller agreed to acquire higher education textbook wholesaler MBS Textbook Exchange, LLC for $174.2 million

Burlington Stores Inc ((BURL)) jumped 3.8% or $3.40 to $92.08 after the branded apparel retailer said net sales in the fourth-quarter ending in December soared 9.4% from a year ago to $144.9 million.

Comparable store sales in the quarter advanced 4.6%.

Net income in the quarter surged 27.1% to $125.6 million or $1.77 per diluted share from $98.8 million or $1.49 per share in the same quarter last year.

The apparel retailer forecasted net sales in the fiscal 2017 to increase in the range of 7.5% to 8.5%, including 1.4% from the 53rd week and comparable store sales to increase in the range of 2% to 3% and diluted earnings per share between $3.77 and $3.87.

Kroger Co ((KR)) slumped 3.3% or $1.07 to $30.99 after the drug and convenience stores operator reported total sales in the fourth-quarter ending in December advanced 5.5% from a year ago to $27.6 million.

Net income in the quarter dropped 9.5% to $506 million or 53 cents per diluted share from $559 million or 57 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Kroger estimated diluted earnings per share in fiscal 2017 in the range of $2.21 to $2.25, including 9 cents for the 53rd week.

Stage Stores Inc ((SSI)) tumbled 13.4% or 31 cents to $2.01 after the specialty department stores operator stated total sales in the fourth-quarter ending in December plunged 9.6% from a year ago to $454.4 billion.

Comparable store sales in the quarter dropped 8.5%.

Net in the quarter swung to a loss of $6.8 million or 25 cents per diluted share from profit of $21 million or 71 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

The retailer forecasted sales in the fiscal 2017 in the range of $1.33 billion to $1.39 billion and comparable sales in a range of -4% to -8% and diluted loss per share between 95 cents and $1.55.

Snapchat ((SNAP)) soared 44% on its first day of trading and completed its initial public offering of 200 million shares, priced at $17 per share.

However Snap reported widening losses and slower user growth in recent months.