Why American Eagle Outfitters Stock Fell 13% at the Open Today

Shares of teen-focused basics retailer American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) fell a quick 13% at the open on March 3. The news that drove the decline was the company's earnings update, which hit the newswires after the close on March 2. The quarterly report was actually pretty solid in many ways, but there were enough negatives to put investors in a bad mood today.

American Eagle Outfitters CEO Jay Schottenstein started the company's fourth-quarter news release by explaining that fiscal 2021 was "a milestone year," with revenue surpassing $5 billion for the first time ever. Specific to the fourth quarter, the company's top line chimed in at $1.51 billion, up 17% compared to the same quarter of 2020. American Eagle's fast-growing Aerie brand was the driving force, with sales up 27% year over year while the retailer's namesake brand saw sales increase a solid, but more modest, 11%. Although the company's adjusted earnings of $0.35 per share in the fourth quarter were down from $0.39 per share in the fourth quarter of 2020, they met analyst expectations. For the full year American Eagle earned $2.19 per share on an adjusted basis. All in, the top- and bottom-line stories here were fairly good.

Image source: Getty Images.

Source Fool.com