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Bloomberg
Gap Inc topped Wall Street’s expectations with its second-quarter results and increased guidance for the full year, highlighting the recovery for apparel retailers from the early-pandemic slowdown.
The San Francisco-based company now sees adjusted earnings per share of $2.10 and $2.25, with net sales up about 30% compared with last year, it said. The apparel maker in May had forecast adjusted earnings of $1.60 to $1.75 a share and revenue growth in the low-to-mid 20% range.
Same-store sales, a key retail metric, rose 3% compared with the year-earlier quarter. That’s well below the 26.4% gain expected by analysts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company said comparable sales increased 12% from 2019, which many retailers have used to compare the recent period with a pre-pandemic quarter.
Gap, which also owns Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta, is capitalising on a nascent rebound in consumer spending after the pandemic hurt demand for many types of apparel. Chief Executive Officer Sonia Syngal said in the statement that the company’s strategy is “driving growth†and that other initiatives in the company’s 2023 growth plan should take hold in the second half of this year.