Shares of teen apparel retailer Pacific Sunwear of California (NASDAQ:PSUN) lost a few points in early trading today on news that fiscal Q4 (ended Jan. 31) financial results pulled down the company's full-year figures somewhat. This morning's share move, however, seems likely to be irrelevant in the short term given the recent strength of the business and the stock alike.
The company, which operates the PacSun, PacSun Outlet, and d.e.m.o. store lines as well as a shopping website, said full-year revenue rose 23% to $1.05 billion on 86 new stores and an impressive same-store sales increase of 13.1%. Net income for the year improved more than 60% to $80.2 million. The figures look stunning next to recent numbers from such competitors as Gap (NYSE:GPS) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF).
The Q4 numbers were slightly downbeat by comparison, though impressive nevertheless: Revenues rose 23%, but same-store sales jumped 12% for the quarter and net income was up 48%. This shouldn't really surprise investors too much anyway, since by including January in its Q4 -- not uncommon for retailers -- the company tacks on a relatively slow (and often markdown-intensive) month to the end of the holiday season.
And Pacific Sunwear doesn't have much to complain about with regard to this year's Q4 anyway: Gross, operating, and net margins all improved over last year on the back of strong same-store sales growth. For the year, meanwhile, sales grew more quickly than did inventory. Cash from operations came in well ahead of net income. And free cash flow, at $111 million, was more than three times last year's figure.
Management's outlook for this year is comparatively conservative given last year's performance and February same-store sales growth of more than 14%. Pacific Sunwear is directing investors toward same-store sales growth of just 5% and EPS growth of 20% from the full-year figures reported last night. But should the company continue find the sweet spot of a competitive apparel business, it can also continue to outpace the S&P 500 as it has by a considerable margin over the last 12 months.
Fool contributor Dave Marino-Nachison doesn't own any of the companies in this story. He can be reached via email.
