Why Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Skyrocketed Today

Shares of apparel company Abercrombie Fitch (NYSE: ANF) skyrocketed on Wednesday after the company reported financial results for its fiscal first quarter of 2023. As of noon ET, Abercrombie stock was up 26%.

Abercrombie's Q1 ended in April. In Q1, the company had net sales of $836 million, which were only up 3% year over year. But that was solidly ahead of management's guidance of $813 million. Moreover, its Q1 operating margin of 4% exceeded management's guidance for a 2% operating margin, at best.

Importantly for a company like Abercrombie, it was able to reduce its inventories by 20% year over year and is now approaching normalized levels after spiking to unusually high levels in the second half of 2022. For an apparel company, too much inventory can lead to clearance sales, write-downs, and lower profits. So it's encouraging that Abercrombie grew sales while lowering inventory.

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Source Fool.com