Ascena Retail Group Rises 5% After Q1 Earnings Beat

Ascena Retail Group ASNA is up more than five percent in after hours trading after beating Wall Street's estimates for Q1. Ascena reported a first quarter EPS of $0.36 versus the Street estimate of $0.32. Despite the beat, earnings per share were down eight percent from the year-ago period. Revenue arrived at $1.2 billion, a tad higher than the Street's prediction of $1.18 billion. Sales were up five percent year-over-year. Ascena also announced that same-store sales experienced a four percent increase. "We were pleased that our top line momentum continued into the first quarter, with all of our brands generating positive total comps," David Jaffe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascena Retail Group, said in a company release. "We also continued to make progress on our strategic priorities during the quarter, including our synergy initiatives, which will position the business for long term growth. "We expect the retail environment to be challenging for the foreseeable future, with a highly promotional holiday season. We have taken a conservative approach to planning inventory, and have developed promotional contingencies to ensure we end the season clean. Regardless of the environment, our teams are focused on driving profitable growth, and we feel that our brands are well positioned for success." While the stock is up in after hours trading, Wall Street was less enthused before earnings were reported. Ascena Retail Group closed at $20.88 today, down 1.97 percent. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ