ARO Posts Healthy Q4 Results; 2010 Guidance Conservative
Analysts at Thomas Weisel Partners reiterate their "market weight" rating on Aeropostale Inc (NYSE: ARO), while reducing their estimates for the company. The target price for ARO has been raised from $26 to $28.
ARO posted better than expected earnings and gross margins. “During the quarter, the company opened six Aeropostale stores and closed two. ARO also opened three P.S. from Aeropostale stores in the quarter... The company repurchased 5.3mn shares for $112.3mn in the quarter. There is approximately $203mn remaining under the company's current repurchase authorization,” the analysts say.
“For the year, the company expects to achieve 15% EPS growth. We believe this guidance should prove conservative based on our expectation for continued sales and gross margin outperformance,” the analysts mention.
Thomas Weisel Partners has reduced its EPS estimate for FY10 from $2.74 to $2.72, since the earlier estimate reflected 19% EPS growth.
