Guess Beats Estimates, Shares Up in After Market (GES)

Guess, Inc. (NYSE: GES) today reported record net earnings of $64.1 million for the third quarter of its 2010 fiscal year ending October 31, 2009, a slight increase over the $64 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2009. Diluted earnings per share increased 3%, to $0.69, compared to $0.67 for the prior year’s quarter. Analysts were expecting $ 0.50 a share.

Shares of GES in the after market are currently up 7.96% or $2.95, to $40.00

Paul Marciano, chief executive officer, said, "We are very pleased with the position of our Company today. Our brand enjoys significant momentum worldwide and our management team continues to execute well. We are gaining share in key markets, generating strong cash flows and delivering solid returns. As we look into the future, we will continue to fund key growth initiatives and invest in our infrastructure. International expansion remains a high priority for us and we plan to resume retail development in North America and expand our retail presence in other countries as well."

"Our third quarter financial results exceeded our expectations. Each of our businesses performed better than expected in both revenues and earnings, as our customer continued to respond well to our product assortment in all markets around the world. In addition, we managed well, controlling our costs and inventories tightly to protect our profitability. This solid performance resulted in record third quarter earnings and a significant improvement in our cash flows in the period. There have been many challenges over the past year, and we responded well to them. As a result, we are a stronger company today. Through it all, we have remained true to our brand and focused on our customer, always delivering outstanding product and improving our service in our stores. We strongly believe that we are well positioned to achieve our objectives for growth and profitability," Marciano said.

The company expects consolidated net revenues to range from $585 million to $605 million for the fourth quarter fiscal year 2010 ending January 30, 2010, with operating margin at about 18%. It expects diluted earnings per share to be between $0.77 and $0.80.