Abercrombie & Fitch Surges 9% Following Better-Than-Expected Q4 & Guidance

Shares of

were trading higher by more than 9 percent after the company reported its

. Abercrombie said that it earned $1.08 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.113 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.99 per share on revenue of $1.1 billion. Net sales for the quarter rose 2 percent on a constant currency basis while comparable sales rose 1 percent. Abercrombie noted that its comparable sales trends improved across all brands and geographies. Operating income for the quarter rose 8 percent from the same quarter a year ago to $120.1 million. Net sales for the full fiscal year 2015 fell 2 percent to $3.519 billion while comparable sales for the full year fell 3 percent. Operating income for the full year was $136.5 million, an increase of 6 percent over 2014's level. Looking forward to fiscal 2016, Abercrombie expects its comps to be flat to up slightly and gross margin to be flat year-over-year versus 61.9 percent in 2015. Arthur Martinez, Executive Chairman, said, "We were pleased to deliver results in line with our expectations against the backdrop of a challenging environment that included currency, traffic and weather headwinds. Our results for the fourth quarter reflect continued progress on a number of fronts and included a return to positive comparable sales, higher average unit retails as promotional activity was moderated, and meaningful improvement in adjusted operating income on a constant currency basis. In addition, inventory continued to be well managed and we generated strong free cash flow for the year.