Topic: Growth Stocks

The Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, August 28, 2009

Article Excerpt

AEROPOSTALE INC., $39.70, symbol ARO on New York, reported higher sales and profits this week. In the three months ended August 1, 2009, Aeropostale’s same-store sales rose 12%, and online sales jumped 49%, to $15.8 million from $10.6 million. The company’s earnings jumped 83.3%, to $38.6 million, or $0.57 a share, from $21.1 million, or $0.31 a share. Revenue rose 20.1%, to $453 million from $377.1 million a year earlier. Aeropostale’s wide variety of clothing, low prices and aggressive promotions were the main reasons behind the company’s strong results. Notwithstanding the weak economy, the teen-clothing retailer took market share from its rivals, mainly on the strength of its lower prices. While Aeropostale posted positive same-store sales, rivals The Gap and American Eagle saw their same-store sales drop. Last June, Aeropostale opened its first new kids’ store, “P.S. from Aeropostale,” aimed at seven-to-12-year-old elementary-school students. Aeropostale’s main stores target 13-to-17-year-old high-school students. It now has seven P.S. from Aeropostale stores in three U.S….