Gap (GAP) shares halted trading on Thursday after the company shared its earnings release around 9:30 a.m. ET on its site, then retracted it.
The company did not respond immediately to a request for comment. It was set to report its earnings Thursday after market close. Based upon those since-retracted results, the company beat estimates on key metrics across the board.
Revenue grew 5% to $3.72 billion, compared to estimates of $3.63 billion, while adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.54, compared to estimates of $0.40. Same-store sales jumped 3%, also besting the 2.87% jump expected.
Prior to this, Wall Street expected Gap to report sales growth for the second quarter in a row as it attempts to reinvigorate its brands.
The retailer’s stock price has risen by over 6% year to date, compared to its rival Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF), which has seen a share price increase of over 55% since the start of the year.
Old Navy and its namesake Gap brand are expected to drive growth, while Banana Republic sales are expected to come in flat. Its premium lifestyle brand, Athleta, is expected to report falling sales.
CEO Richard Dickson is working on a turnaround of the classic retailer, including a change of its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange last week.
It’s now “GAP” (GAP), rather than a nod to the navigation system “GPS,” as Brian Sozzi reported.
“We’ve spent a lot of time driving our strategic priorities, bringing back financial and operational rigor, enabling us to reinvigorate these brands to the extent that we could revitalize them and be part of the cultural conversation,” Dickson, a former COO at toymaker Mattel, told Yahoo Finance.
“Great product, great price, great storytelling, great store experiences. These are all fundamentals that we’re working really hard to fix.”
GAP store at Times Square in New York City on July 13, 2024. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Many analysts are looking to see if Gap can still succeed in an environment where consumers are strained.
There is “a continued squeeze of the middle-income…
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