By Adriano Marchese

American Eagle Outfitters shares rose Monday in premarket trading after the clothing retailer said that its sales and profit were tracking higher than expected.

Shares rose 3.9% to $16.87.

The company said Monday that fourth quarter-to-date comparable sales through Jan. 4 are up in the low single digits, tracking ahead of recent guidance of growing by 1%, driven by strong holiday shopping trends.

The company said that it has seen positive momentum across its brands American Eagle and Aerie that supported the sales growth.

American Eagle also raised its fourth quarter outlook for operating profit. The company said it now expects this to come in at about $135 million, higher than its previous guidance range of between $125 million and $130 million.

Analysts expected this to come in at $130.1 million, according to FactSet.

The company is basing its new guidance on a comparable sales increase of around 2%, but below the 8% growth it saw last year due to an adverse impact from the retail calendar on total revenue, resulting in total revenue falling by 5%.

FactSet polled-analysts expected sales in the quarter to fall slightly to $1.61 billion from $1.68 billion a year earlier.

Chairman and Chief Executive Jay Schottenstein credits the performance on the company's new product assortments and engaging customer experiences, which supported growth across brands and selling channels.

Looking ahead, Schottenstein said the company remains focused on driving operational efficiencies to deliver high-teens operating profit growth in 2024.

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 13, 2025 08:43 ET (13:43 GMT)

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