The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Gap Inc beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales and profit on Thursday, helped by steady demand from affluent consumers for its formal clothing and dresses despite a surge in inflation, sending its shares up about 10 percent in extended trading.
People are preferring more formal clothing, dresses, woven tops and pants, shelving casual wear like T-shirts and shorts as they return to travel, work and social occasions after two years of pandemic-induced restrictions.
Gap’s Banana Republic, an affordable luxury brand, posted an 8 percent rise in sales, while its Old Navy brand that has been struggling with out-of-fashion clothes reported a 2 percent increase.
However, Gap echoed retailer Kohl’s, which on Thursday warned soaring prices of essential commodities had dampened lower-income consumer’s spending on non-essentials like apparel.
It expects fourth-quarter net sales to be down in mid-single digits, compared with analysts’ expectations of a 0.6 percent decline, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
“We did see strong volume in October slow a bit in the end and a little bit of a slow start to November,” finance chief Katrina O’Connell said on a post-earnings call.
Gap is expected to continue to struggle over the next 12 months because of its low- to middle-income consumer base and underperforming brands, Zachary Warring, equity analyst at CFRA Research said.
Heading into the holiday season and 2023, discounts could continue for brands like Gap due to a weaker consumer, he added.
The company reported $53 million in impairment charges related to Yeezy Gap. In October, Gap removed products from its Yeezy Gap line created in partnership with Kanye West, and shut down YeezyGap.com following the rapper’s anti-Semitic comments.
Gap’s third-quarter net sales rose 2.5 percent to $4.04 billion, topping analysts’ estimates of $3.80 billion. Excluding items, it booked a profit of 38 cents per share, compared with expectations of a break-even.
By Granth Vanaik and Ananya Mariam Rajesh; Editor: Maju Samuel
Learn more:
Inside Gap Inc.’s 20-Year Struggle to Revive Its Namesake Brand
Why the retail group appears to be in constant turnaround mode — and the measures it may need to take to change the narrative.
The company’s recent introduction of a marketplace model has led to a flood of listings for new, high-end goods by third-party sellers. Some brands aren’t happy, but there may not be much they can do.
A new study from Trove and Worldly found that if luxury and outdoor apparel brands can grow their resale offering to account for a quarter of total revenue, then they can substantially reduce carbon emissions. Fast fashion, not so much.
The US Federal Trade Commission filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday, charging the online retailer with harming consumers through higher prices in the latest US government legal action aimed at breaking Big Tech’s dominance of the internet.
Malls across the US have been ‘flash robbed’ by groups of about 20 to 30 suspects stealing retail merchandise.