Abercrombie & Fitch Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

By Brian D. Pacampara | More Articles
December 2, 2010 | Comments (1)

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Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Teen-focused retailer Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF ) saw its stock pop 10% in intraday trading today after posting a November same-store sales surge of 22%, which was well above analyst estimates of a 6.4% increase.

So what: Abercrombie is just one of several retailers benefitting from a strong start to the holiday shopping season. Big-box discounters like Costco (Nasdaq: COST ) and Target (NYSE: TGT ) , as well as retailers like The Buckle (NYSE: BKE ) and Macy's (NYSE: M ) , all posted better-than-expected November sales.

Now what: I'd use this Abercrombie pop as an opportunity to take at least some dough off the table. In recent quarters, Abercrombie's same-store sales declines have been some of the worst in the industry, as consumers have been reluctant to pay up for its premium apparel. I really don't think these results mark a complete reversal of that trend, and with cost-friendly Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO ) down big today on worse-than-expected sales, you'll have a cheap place to roll that bet over.

Interested in more info on Abercrombie? Add it to your watchlist.

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Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. Costco Wholesale is a Motley Fool Inside Value and Stock Advisor selection. The Fool owns shares of Costco and Aeropostale. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On December 02, 2010, at 12:54 PM, PeyDaFool wrote:

"I'd use this Abercrombie pop as an opportunity to take at least some dough off the table."
Better move quick, Brian. Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, already took $38.5 million off the table in 2009, including $639,000 of company money toward his personal use of a company-owned aircraft.
If that's not a blatant example of CEO fiscal responsibility, I'm not sure what is.

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