Abercrombie Raises Outlook on Strong Online Sales, Shares Soar

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) jumped 16% late Thursday after the retailer lifted its full-year guidance following stronger-than-expected online sales during the key December period.

The New Albany, Ohio-based teen apparel maker raised its outlook to between $1.55 and $1.65 a share compared with an earlier outlook of $1.40 to $1.50. The new outlook is far ahead of the $1.47 analysts are calling for on average in a Thomson Reuters poll.

"Given the challenging and promotional retail environment, we are pleased that our quarter-to-date performance has exceeded expectations,” Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries said in a statement.

The strong outlook comes despite the fact that Abercrombie’s key revenue metric slumped 6% in the nine-week period ended Jan. 4. The metric, known as same-store sales, or sales at stores open longer than a year, were down 4% in the U.S. and 10% internationally, but were buoyed by a 25% increase in direct-to-consumer same-store sales, which mostly includes online sales.

Shares of the retailer were up 16.2% in after-hours trade to $38.59.