(Reuters) - Abercrombie & Fitch Co's (N:ANF) namesake brand posted its first rise in comparable sales in four years, helping the teen fashion retailer beat analysts' estimates for holiday quarter sales at established stores.
The company's shares rose 7.3 percent to $22.90 in premarket trading on Wednesday.
The Abercrombie brand posted a 5 percent rise in same-store sales, beating analysts' average estimate of 2.13 percent, signaling a turnaround for the company that redefined teen apparel in the 1990s with its risqué advertising and its large logo on clothes.
Chief Executive Fran Horowitz said in January that the Abercrombie brand was on track to deliver positive comparable sales for the quarter.
Same-store sales at the company's beach-themed clothing brand Hollister rose 11 percent. Analysts had expected a 10.35 percent rise, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Total comparable store sales rose 9 percent, beating the average expectation of a 7.4 percent rise.
Net income attributable to Abercrombie rose to $74.2 million, or $1.05 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, from $48.8 million, or 71 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.38 per share, and reported a 15 percent rise in revenue to $1.19 billion.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.10 per share and revenue of $1.16 billion in the reported quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.