It's just what you like to see in a specialty retailer now that we are just weeks away from the critical holiday shopping season. Limited Brands (NYSE:LTD) sees its October comps coming in smartly higher -- in the mid-teens -- and that, along with some better-than-expected overhead savings, has the company guiding investors to expect between $0.08 and $0.10 a share in earnings for its October quarter. That is nearly twice as much as its original projections.
Limited is a mall giant. It's not just the namesake stores either; the company's retailing empire spans more than 3800 locations including Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Express. And that's before we start considering the popular concepts that the company has been able to successfully spin off, like Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) and Too (NYSE:TOO).
Then again, if your faith in the company is "limited," you can always tender your shares back to the company over the next few days in its latest Dutch auction. The company's been an aggressive buyer of its own shares, and its healthy outlook going into the frantic selling period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is encouraging.
Limited is looking to earn $1.35 a share this year. Yes, it's the fiscal fourth quarter that is about to get under way, in which the company earns the chunk of its financial change.
The stock is trading at levels last seen four years ago. That means that there's a word for those who have sold their shares back to Limited over the past few years -- suckers. Yet the stock's heady advance doesn't mean that the stock is expensive either. At 18 times earnings -- along with a 2% yield bonus for patient investors -- the company is trading at a reasonable multiple given its resilient growth in same store sales. Things continue to get better for Limited, especially now that the stock market is following the company's lead by buying in.
Are you ready to bundle up for the cold weather yet still want to stay fashionable? What are the hot trends this season? All this and more -- in the What to Wear? discussion board. Only on Fool.com.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz doesn't consider himself a snappy dresser -- unless there are snaps involved. He does not own shares in any company mentioned in this story.
