Is the retail apocalypse really upon us? If Abercrombie Fitch's (NYSE: ANF) latest big piece of news is any indication, fears of brick-and-mortar retail's death might be vastly exaggerated. The veteran clothier's stock was up a roaring 25% week to date as of Thursday's market close, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Encouraging quarterly results and analyst price target lifts -- plus one upgrade -- were the main catalysts.

On Wednesday, Abercrombie Fitch stepped out of the dressing room to show the world its first-quarter results. The retailer posted net sales of $836 million, representing 3% year-over-year growth and topping both the company's guidance and the average analyst estimate. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income came in at $19.8 million, or $0.39 per share -- miles above those prognosticators' $0.01 projection.

Sweeting that big earnings beat, Abercrombie also raised its 2023 guidance. For the full year, it now believes its net sales will rise by 2% to 4% over the 2022 result of $3.7 billion; previously, it was guiding for improvement of 1% to 3%. It also upped its forecast for operating margin -- this is now expected to shake out to 5% to 6%, as opposed to the original estimate of 4% to 5%.

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Source Fool.com