Urban Outfitters (URBN) Down after Results


Shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. (Urban Outfitters Inc.NASDAQ:URBN) are down over 6% in morning trade after the company reported fourth quarter profits below analyst forecasts. Fourth quarter revenues were however inline with analyst views.

Urban Outfitters (URBN) said it generated net income of $39.3 million for the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2012. Earnings per diluted share were $0.27 for the quarter which came in 2 cents per share below consensus forecasts. For the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2012, gross profit margin percentage declined by a wider than expected 955 basis points versus the prior year`s comparable period.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, total company net sales increased 9% over the same quarter last year to $731 million. This was inline with analyst views. The company said revenue from its stores open at least a year, a key metric decreased 1 percent.


Urban Outfitters (URBN) said it earned $185.3 million, or $1.19 per share, for the full year. That’s down from $273 million, or $1.60 per share, in the prior fiscal year. Revenue increased to $2.47 billion from $2.27 billion.

“I am pleased that we managed our inventories to appropriate levels at year end even though our margins during the quarter suffered as a result,” said Chief Executive Officer, Richard Hayne. “Our rate of full-priced selling has improved from fourth quarter levels as we seek to re-establish our historic full-price selling penetration.”

While the company’s full-price selling has improved so far in the first quarter and inventories are lean, “it’s unclear if recent momentum was mainly due to sustainable drivers in the business or the favorable weather that boosted many retailers’ sales in February,” said ISI Group analyst Omar Saad. There’s “still no timeline for a turnaround.”

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Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.


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