Wedbush Encouraged By Freshness Of A&F, American Eagle's New Spring Merchandise

Wedbush recently released a report highlighting the specialty retail industry and focused on multiple retailers, including Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF and American Eagle Outfitters AEO following checks after the holiday shopping season.

Lupine Skelly, an analyst at Wedbush, noted that both companies ended December with clean inventories, which allowed them to keep promotions either inline or lower than the previous year, possibly pointing to increased profitability and better management of inventory.

After visiting both Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle, Skelly was impressed by the ability of the retailers to move winter merchandise, while noting that customers showed positive reactions to the new spring merchandise featuring distressed denim apparel.

Related Link: Wedbush Highlights Abercrombie As Gaining Momentum Over Holiday Weekend

Springing Into Spring

While both retailers offered promotions and discounts to make room for spring merchandise, Skelly believes that the “freshness in assortment” for the spring collections may drive increased sales going forward.

Wedbush believes both companies appear to be primed for a strong spring shopping season and sales momentum may be positive going forward.

Prior Assessments

Abercrombie was recently highlighted by Wedbush, which noted that strong traffic and sell through drove strength over the holiday shopping season. Furthermore, Wedbush analysts have described American Eagle Outfitters as a standout and showing a lack of sell down in clearance.

Abercrombie was recently seen trading at $27.37.

American Eagle was recently seen trading at $15.89.