Gap Shares Moving Up After Company Beats April Estimates

Shares of

are trading up ~4 percent Friday following better-than-expected

for the month of April. In Thursday's report, CEO Glenn Murphy said, "We are pleased with our execution overall in April, especially at Old Navy." Gap also included diluted EPS guidance of $0.56 - $0.57 for first quarter 2014 and is scheduled to provide results for the whole quarter on May 22 at 1:00 p.m. pacific time. In response to these results, Mizuho Securities analyst Betty Chen reiterated her Buy rating on Friday. Chen wrote, "We believe BTE April comp and 1Q EPS introduction should alleviate any investor concerns regarding a fashion miss or adjustment to FY14 annual guidance." Chen's key points for reiteration included these better-than-expected April results in which she cited Gap's nine percent increase in consolidated same-store sales, which was above her estimate of 1-3 percent.