American Eagle Flying High: Fool by Numbers

On March 7, laid-back clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO  ) ,which began trading today on the NYSE under new ticker symbol AEO, released fourth-quarter earnings for the period ended Feb. 3.

• An extra week of sales helped fourth-quarter earnings soar 40% to $0.66 per diluted share from $0.47 per diluted share, with total sales of $973.4 million, a 14% increase.
• The company launched its intimates sub brand "aerie" in September 2006 and plans to open at least 15 stand-alone stores in 2007. Management expects Q1 2007 EPS to be between $0.31 to $0.33, compared with last year's $0.28.
• Join our Motley Fool CAPS community and tell us what you think of American Eagle and its competitors, such as two-star-rated Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF  ) or three-star-rated Pacific Sunwear (Nasdaq: PSUN  ) .

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Sales	$973.4	$769.1	26.6%
Net Profit	$150.2	$107.5	39.6%
EPS	$0.66	$0.47	40.4%
Diluted Shares	228.0	227.2	0.3%

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

Margin Checkup

	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change*
Gross Margin	47.9%	46.4%	1.6
Operating Margin	23.3%	22.5%	0.8
Net Margin	15.4%	14.0%	1.5

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$827.1	$751.5	10.1%
Inventory	$263.6	$210.7	25.1%

Liabilities	Q4 2006	Q4 2005	Change
Accounts Payable	$171.2	$139.2	23.0%

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

Fools like to see fully dressed earnings releases with cash flow statements included.

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Foolishness:

• American Eagle Stays Aloft
• Sandbagger of the Day: American Eagle
• Banking on Buy Ratings
• Gap's Gut-Churning Comps

American Eagle Outfitters and Pacific Sunwear are Stock Advisor recommendations. Click here if you're interested in learning more about this market-beating newsletter by taking a free 30-day trial.

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.