Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) on Tuesday reported its earnings and revenue for the first quarter that beat consensus forecast. The strong resulted were driven by higher spending at its stores despite prolonged winter season.
The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based apparel retailer reported net income of $41.3 million, or 38 cents a share for the three-month period ended April 30, up from $11.9 million, or 1 cent a share in the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 38 cents a share, easily beating the consensus forecast of 31 cents a share.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $855.7 million, up 12.4 percent from the comparable quarter, one year ago. Analysts on average were looking for revenue of $838.1 million.
Shares of Urban Outfitters fell more than 2 percent in the after-hours trading session on Tuesday, despite reporting solid quarterly results.
Urban Outfitters said that all brands under its umbrella, including Free People and Anthropologie, reported better-than-expected same-store sales growth for the just-ended quarter.
Anthropologie’s co-President Hillary Super said that solid demand was seen for fashion during the first quarter, despite longer-than-usual cold weather.
Sales at stores open for at least 12-months jumped 10 percent in the first quarter, as compared to a rise of 8.8 percent estimated by analysts.
Urban Outfitters said investment on its websites and fewer discounts helped the company in boosting its revenue and margins. The company said that its gross margins jumped 32.8 percent in the quarter, versus 31.5 percent in the same period last year.
Other retailers including J.C. Penney and Home Depot also announced their quarterly results over the past week. However, most of the retailers blamed extended winter season for weak sales earlier this year.
