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What: Shares of fashionista Michael Kors Holdings
So what: Michael Kors delivered the classic earnings report double-whammy today, as quarterly profit and the company's forward guidance topped analysts' expectations. For the final quarter of its fiscal year, the company reported earnings per share of $0.22, which was more than double the same quarter of last year and well above the $0.16 that Wall Street was looking for.
The strong quarter was partially driven by a sales surge in -- if you can believe it -- Europe. The company has been steadily building its presence there and this quarter may be some proof that fashion comes before austerity.
For the year ahead, the company projected earnings per share of between $1.08 and $1.12 on sales of $1.7 billion-$1.8 billion. Analysts were anticipating $0.98 in EPS on $1.69 billion in revenue.
Now what: Investors were fired up about the results and guidance early in the trading day, but that fever cooled through the trading day and the stock's gain shrank substantially. While there could be many reasons that the stock calmed back down, a glaring one may be concern over Europe. While high-fashion Kors was successful on that continent for the quarter ending in March, there are obvious reasons why investors would be skeptical that the good times will continue. And with the stock currently priced at around 36 times the company's forward earnings guidance, a growth hiccup could make the stock look darn pricey.
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