Aerie continued to drive the growth story at American Eagle Outfitters Inc. in the second quarter — although investors were looking for something more and traded the company’s stock down 8.8 percent to $15.41 in after-hours trading.
AEO’s revenues for three months ended Aug. 1 increased 8 percent to $1.38 billion, just above the $1.37 billion analysts forecast, according to Yahoo Finance. And while comparable sales advanced 6 percent, they were powered by a 19 percent bump up at Aerie, which offset the 1 percent decline at American Eagle.
That growth as well as a tariff boomerang helped support the bottom line.
Gross profits were up 34 percent to $672 million from $500 million, a gain that stemmed from tariff refunds, which produced a $179 million net benefit. Net earnings increased 73 percent to $134.1 million, or 79 cents a diluted share.
Inventory at cost rose 14 percent, reflecting the impact of incremental tariffs this year, while units were up 9 percent.
