Abercrombie Beats Estimates as Both Retailers Issue FY and Q3 Guidance

ANF posted a strong quarter, with earnings per share of $4.17 beating analysts' consensus of $1.99 by $2.18, and revenue of $1.27 billion slightly above the $1.25 billion estimate . A meaningful part of that beat was a one-time item: roughly $1.75 of the $2.18 EPS surprise came from a $100 million IEEPA tariff refund. Comparable sales were flat company-wide, with the Abercrombie brand posting a 4% comp gain while Hollister comps fell 3%, so the strength was not uniform across both banners.

ANF's guidance also came in ahead of expectations: FY2026 EPS is guided to $13.10-$13.60, above the $10.40 consensus, and revenue guidance of roughly $5.5 billion is in line with consensus . For Q3, ANF guided EPS to $2.90-$3.20 versus a $2.80 consensus, and revenue guidance of $1.4 billion came in above, not merely matching, the $1.3 billion consensus . Reported reactions to the print varied by source and timing: several outlets cited a share-price move in the roughly 12% to 17% range, while one report cited a much larger move near 32% that appears to be an outlier and should be treated with caution.

BBWI reported net sales of about $1.51 billion, down 2.3% year over year, with adjusted diluted EPS of $0.62 versus $0.37 a year earlier, a beat aided by roughly $80 million in tariff refunds the company said it received during the quarter. By channel, Direct U.S./Canada sales grew 3.0% while Stores U.S./Canada sales declined 5.4%; BBWI's own release did not give a single blended comparable-sales figure.

BBWI's forward guidance is where earlier reporting on this story went wrong: FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $2.60-$2.80 is modestly above the $2.56 consensus , but the company's own guidance calls for FY2026 net sales to DECLINE 4% to 2.5% versus FY2025's $7.291 billion, not grow to $7.5-7.6 billion as some automated data feeds reported. Q3 2026 guidance follows the same pattern: adjusted EPS of $0.07-$0.12 versus a $0.27 consensus , alongside a guided net sales decline of 5% to 2.5% versus Q3 2025's $1.594 billion, again a decline rather than the $1.6-1.7 billion growth figure that had circulated. Shares reportedly fell about 1.8% premarket despite the EPS beat, which may reflect the market focusing on the softer sales trajectory and weak Q3 guidance.

Taken together, both companies' headline EPS beats owe a real but partial debt to one-time tariff refunds, which could make the quality of the underlying margin improvement look different once those refunds roll off. ANF's guidance suggests confidence that its namesake brand's momentum can carry the business even as Hollister lags, while BBWI's own numbers describe a business managing profitability through a period of shrinking net sales rather than one returning to top-line growth. Investors may want to watch whether Hollister's comps recover and whether BBWI's Stores decline stabilizes in coming quarters.

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