Ann Taylored to Perfection: Fool by Numbers

On Nov. 17, Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN  ) released third-quarter earnings for the period ended Oct. 28.

• Sales were up by 10.2% to $566.3 million, with comparable store sales increasing 2.6%.
• The gross margin increased by 240 basis points to 56.6%, thanks to an increase in full-price sales across all divisions.
• Only 29 of 40 investors think Ann Taylor Stores will outperform the S&P 500. What do you think? If you have an opinion, bring it to CAPS!

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Sales	$566.3	$514.0	10.2%
Net Profit	$39.3	$30.3	29.4%
EPS	$0.54	$0.42	28.6%
Diluted Shares	72.4	72.3	0.1%

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	56.6%	54.2%	2.4
Operating Margin	10.9%	9.7%	1.2
Net Margin	6.9%	5.9%	1.0

*Expressed in percentage points

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$405.4	$276.5	46.6%
Accounts Rec.	$25.5	$22.1	15.4%
Inventory	$279.5	$272.7	2.5%

Liabilities	Q3 2006	Q3 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$117.0	$97.4	20.1%
Long-Term Debt	$0.0	$0.0	N/A

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

The cash flow statement must still be up in "The Loft." Management will get it down in time for the 10-Q.

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

• Claire's Stores (NYSE: CLE  )
• Guess? (NYSE: GES  )
• Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW  )

Related Foolishness:

• Ann Taylor's Wardrobe Shuffle
• Ann Taylor's Raggedy First Quarter
• Ann's Wardrobe Malfunction

How do you think Ann Taylor will do in the next few weeks? How about the next few years? Join CAPS, the Fool's new community-intelligence stock-rating service, and tell more than 13,000 fellow investors how you feel.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.