Recs

6

Oxford Industries Continues to Grow

Watch stocks you care about

The single, easiest way to keep track of all the stocks that matter...

Your own personalized stock watchlist!

It's a 100% FREE Motley Fool service...

Click Here Now

Atlanta-based apparel maker Oxford Industries (NYSE: OXM  ) recently posted its second-quarter results. Although net income fell, things aren't nearly as bad as they may seem.

Let's dig deeper.

The numbers
Revenues, at $180.6 million, were up by 26% compared to the year-ago quarter. This was mainly because of strong sales of the company's brands, which include Tommy Bahama and the recently acquired Lilly Pulitzer. But strong sales didn't translate into profits; net income for the quarter fell 64% to $2.6 million or $0.16 per share, due largely to a one-time expense of $8.2 million related to repurchasing its senior secured notes.

If you take out one-time items, the company saw adjusted earnings per share of $0.57, beating Street estimates of $0.52 per share.

Growth story
Fellow Fool Shubh Datta correctly pointed out the growth potential of the company back in June after its first-quarter earnings report. Tommy Bahama benefited from increased same-store sales, higher retail sales, and increased e-commerce sales, operating 90 retail stores this quarter.

Oxford Industries improved its revenues and margins, backed by the strength in its direct-to-customer business. Robust cash generation helped the company reduce its debt by 24% to $112.5 million and thereby decrease its interest burden.

Given the company's growth potential, let's see if it is fairly priced compared with its peers:

Company

P/E Ratio

Oxford Industries 8.2

Polo Ralph Lauren

(NYSE: RL  )

23.5

Phillips-Van Heusen

(NYSE: PVH  )

17.3

Abercrombie & Fitch

(NYSE: ANF  )

30.9

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Oxford's P/E makes the company look extremely inexpensive, especially in comparison to its competitors. With expected earnings growth of 13% over the next five years, the shares may be a good value right now.

The Foolish bottom line
Management seems confident about the strength of its brands. It has raised its full-year earnings outlook to $2.20-$2.30 per share. Given the momentum of Oxford Industries' revenue, I think the company has the potential to come up with good numbers in the future. What do you think?

To stay up to speed on these apparel retailers, click below to:

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

Enter your email address below to find out what made Jobs so enraged!

Navjot Kaur does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares and has written covered calls on Oxford Industries. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


Comments from our Foolish Readers

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 Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Compare Brokers

Fool Disclosure

DocumentId: 1557163, ~/Articles/ArticleHandler.aspx, 5/26/2012 3:24:15 PM

Report This Comment

Use this area to report a comment that you believe is in violation of the community guidelines. Our team will review the entry and take any appropriate action.

Sending report...

Today's Market

updated 18 hours ago Sponsored by:
DOW 12,454.83 -74.92 -0.60%
S&P 500 1,317.82 -2.86 -0.22%
NASD 2,837.53 -1.85 -0.07%

Create My Watchlist

Go to My Watchlist

You don't seem to be following any stocks yet!

Better investing starts with a watchlist. Now you can create a personalized watchlist and get immediate access to the personalized information you need to make successful investing decisions.

Data delayed up to 5 minutes

Related Tickers

5/25/2012 4:03 PM
OXM $43.87 Up +1.21 +2.84%
Oxford Industries CAPS Rating: ***
RL $149.84 Up +1.16 +0.78%
Polo Ralph Lauren… CAPS Rating: **
PVH $82.46 Up +0.08 +0.10%
Phillips-Van Heuse… CAPS Rating: ***
ANF $36.23 Up +0.94 +2.66%
Abercrombie & Fitc… CAPS Rating: *

Advertisement