Urban Outfitters misses 3Q earnings and revenue expectations

Urban Outfitters Inc. on Monday reported third-quarter results that fell short of Wall Street expectations due to weak performance at its namesake brand.

Shares of the Philadelphia-based company, which owns the Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People brands, shed 5 percent in extended trading.

Urban Outfitters said that it earned $47.1 million, or 35 cents per share, in the three-month period that ended Oct. 31, down from $70.3 million, or 47 cents per share, last year. Its revenue increased to $814.5 million from $774 million.

The most recent quarter's results fell short of market expectations. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research were anticipating earnings of 42 cents per share on revenue of $818.4 million.

The company said that gains at its Free People and Anthropologies brands were weighed down by its namesake brand.

Revenue from stores open at least a year, which also includes direct-to-consumer sales, decreased 1 percent overall. That includes a 15 percent gain at Free People, a 2 percent increase at Anthropologie and a 7 percent drop at Urban Outfitters.

The sales figure is a closely watched measure of performance in the retail industry because it strips away the impact of recently opened and closed sites.

CEO Richard Hayne said that the company has much work to do to improve the merchandise margins and store performance at Urban Outfitters, but that the brand's direct-to-consumer business is showing strong gains. The direct-to-consumer business typically encompasses catalog and online sales.

Urban Outfitters shares fell $1.64 to $29.19 in extended trading following the report. Through the close of regular-session trading Monday, its shares had fallen 17 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 10 percent.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. URBN stock research report from Zacks.

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Keywords:Urban Outfitters,Earnings Report