Urban Outfitters (URBN) Reports Negative Comps, Piper Jaffray Reiterates Neutral

Piper Jaffray analyst, Neely Tamminga, reiterated the Neutral rating on Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) shares after the company announced holiday sales comps of -2% compared with Piper's estimate of -4% for the quarter. The price target was trimmed.

The direct-to-consumer channel (eCommerce) was cited as being strong, but offset by weaker store sales tied to "declining store traffic." Inventory levels were also cited as being clean, which we attest to in our own store walks; this could potentially constrain the reported "comp" in the near-term in our view but potentially lead to better margins.

Management indicated that total sales were flat with last year (LY $785M) and total comparable sales (including eComm) are tracking down 2%. By division, the comparable brand sales were down 2% at UO (vs. +1% LY), down 2% at Anthropologie (vs. +5% LY) and +2% at Free People (vs. +17% LY).

URBN is on the schedule to present at the 18th annual ICR XChange conference in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday, January 13th at 11:30am ET.

The price target was lowered from $27 to $26.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Urban Outfitters, Inc. click here. For more ratings news on Urban Outfitters, Inc. click here.

Shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. closed at $22.21 yesterday.

You May Also Be Interested In

• MongoDB (MDB) PT Raised to $460 at UBS Ahead of Q2 Results
• Deere (DE) PT Raised to $760 at DA Davidson Following Q3 Earnings
• Private Bancorp of America (PBAM) PT Raised to $105 at DA Davidson