Aeropostale Ready to Fly?: Fool by Numbers (ARO)

Aeropostale Ready to Fly?: Fool by Numbers

On Nov. 29, teen fashion retailer Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO ) released its third-quarter earnings for the period ended Oct. 28.

Sales were up almost 20% for the quarter, on the backs of a 5.6% increase in same-store sales and 70 more stores than last year's quarter.
Gross margins improved, but not all the improvement found its way to the bottom line.
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(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Sales	$385.5	$324.7	18.7%
Net Profit	$32.6	$26.1	24.9%
EPS	$0.61	$0.47	29.8%
Diluted Shares	53.2	55.7	(4.5%)

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

Margin Checkup

	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change*
Gross Margin	32.1%	29.2%	2.9
Operating Margin	13.4%	13%	0.4
Net Margin	8.5%	8%	0.5

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$203.3	$134.4	51.3%
Accounts Rec.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Inventory	$167.5	$159.9	4.8%

Liabilities	Q3 2007	Q3 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$117.9	$95.1	24%
Long-Term Debt	$0.0	$0.0	N/A

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

There wasn't a cash flow statement in the release. De-nied!

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Related Companies:

American Eagle Outfitters (Nasdaq: AEOS )
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF )
GAP (NYSE: GPS )

Related Foolishness:

American Eagle Outfitters is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor selection. Gap is a Motley Fool Inside Value and Stock Advisor pick.

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.

At the time of publication, David Meier did not own shares in any of the companies mentioned. Fool rules for disclosure are here.

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