Young adult apparel retailer American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) will be reporting results this Wednesday after the bell. Here’s what investors should know.
American Eagle beat analysts’ revenue expectations last quarter, reporting revenues of $1.36 billion, up 5.7% year on year. It was a stunning quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.
Is American Eagle a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.
This quarter, the market is expecting American Eagle’s revenue to grow 8.4% year on year, a reversal from the 4.4% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. American Eagle has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates multiple times over the last two years.
Looking at American Eagle’s peers in the apparel and footwear retail segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Urban Outfitters delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 10.1%, beating analysts’ expectations by 0.6%, and Boot Barn reported revenues up 16%, in line with consensus estimates. Urban Outfitters traded up 5% following the results while Boot Barn was also up 2.9%.
Read our full analysis of Urban Outfitters’s results here and Boot Barn’s results here.
The outlook for 2025 remains clouded by potential trade policy changes and corporate tax discussions, which could impact business confidence and growth. While some of the apparel and footwear retail stocks have shown solid performance in this choppy environment, the group has generally underperformed, with share prices down 3.8% on average over the last month. American Eagle is down 8.5% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $25.78 (compared to the current share price of $22.53).
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