An American Eagle advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney on a billboard in Times Square in New York, U.S., on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | fake images
american eagle issued bullish guidance for the holidays and raised its full-year forecast Tuesday after posting better-than-expected quarterly results.
The apparel company expects fiscal fourth-quarter comparable sales to grow between 8% and 9%, about four times the 2.1% that analysts had anticipated, according to StreetAccount.
American Eagle now expects its full-year adjusted operating income to be between $303 million and $308 million, up from its previous range of $255 million to $265 million.
Shares of American Eagle rose as much as 15% in extended trading.
The company exceeded expectations for the third quarter in terms of revenue and results.
Here's how American Eagle fared during the quarter compared to what Wall Street anticipated, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 53 cents vs. 44 cents expected
- Revenue: $1.36 billion vs. $1.32 billion expected
The company's reported net income for the three months ended Nov. 1 was $91.34 million, or 53 cents per share, compared with $80.02 million, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier.
Sales rose to $1.36 billion, up about 6% from $1.29 billion a year earlier.
The results are the first time investors have seen a full quarter of the impact of American Eagle's eye-catching campaigns featuring Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce.
Companywide, American Eagle saw comparable sales growth of 4%, better than the 2.7% analysts were expecting, according to StreetAccount. While overall business results exceeded expectations, they were primarily driven by Aerie, which reported comparable sales growth of 11% and revenue growth of approximately 13%.
At American Eagle, where the campaigns were focused, comparable sales grew just 1%, worse than the 2.1% analysts expected, according to StreetAccount.
The company told CNBC that the campaigns are “attracting more customers” and generating more attention around the brand, but the results show that they have not yet been a major revenue driver.
However, they are not having a major impact on profits either. During the quarter, American Eagle's operating margin was 8.3%, better than the 7.5% analysts expected, according to StreetAccount.
Beyond its marketing campaigns, American Eagle told CNBC that it posted record revenue in its third quarter and that “strong momentum” continued into the current quarter, where it saw a “record Thanksgiving weekend.”
The optimistic comment about the holidays comes after colleagues like Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap and urban providers posted better-than-feared results ahead of the crucial Christmas shopping season. Investors have been watching discretionary retailers closely for declines in consumer demand due to tariffs, but many have shown resilience so far. They're proving that, for now, higher prices aren't stopping consumers from buying, as long as they feel like they're getting good value for their money.
The industry-wide holiday outlook from outside consulting firms has been relatively murky, but discretionary retailers' latest earnings slate has been a positive omen for holiday sales. Additionally, participation during the so-called Turkey 5 shopping weekend, the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, was higher than expected, according to the National Retail Federation.
