Urban Outfitters Tops Sales Targets

Shares of Urban Outfitters are trading higher by 4.5% to $25.00 in the pre-market, following the company's release of better-than-expected third-quarter sales estimates of $379.32M (+23% y/y). Analysts were expecting sales of $374.75M, on average. Urban Outfitters said strong sales at its Anthropologies and Free People stores drove the strong sales growth. Total comparable store sales rose 8% during the quarter, led by 17% and 16% increases at Anthropologies and Free People, respectively. CEO Glen Senk commented, "Our recent merchandise strategy changes have begun to take effect as all of our brand channels experienced double digit sales growth over the prior year's quarter. We still believe our largest opportunity over the next several quarters rests with further execution of the Urban brand merchandise initiatives." Urban Outfitters is scheduled to report Q3 earnings on Thursday Nov. 8. Shares of Urban Outfitters lost 0.7% to $23.92 on Monday.

Sources: Press release, Associated Press, MarketWatch, RTTNews
Commentary: September Same-Store Sales: Comprehensive Roundup
Stocks to watch: URBN
Earnings call transcript: Urban Outfitters F2Q08

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