The Gap Inc. (GPS), Aeropostale, Inc. (ARO): Five Teen Retailers Vie for the Coveted Title of Miss Wall Street High

Do These Earnings Make Me Look Fat?

Last, but not least, there is Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF). Really, they are two girls, but they are so attached at the hip, right by the pockets of their micro-shorts, that everyone just refers to them as one girl. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF), or A. Fitch, as they like to call themselves, always knows just what to wear, and looks good from a distance. But once she opens her mouth, you realize she’s prejudiced, snobby, and as fake as her tan. She’s a nice girl, with a decent sense of fashion, but maybe not the girl you want to represent your class.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF)’s too cool exterior has started to appeal less and less with her peers, and she’s had some bloating (inventory levels). Her sales are off and she can’t even seem to give it away with increased markdowns. She tried to play hard to get by closing a few stores, and tightening up inventory, but even then her margins didn’t improve that much. Her total U.S. sales dropped 17% to $534.9 million. But she isn’t afraid to point out that she’s popular at other schools, more international schools, where her sales went up like 10% to $303.9 million. Who needs American kids when you have exotic foreign guys after you? And besides, she still made more than Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE:ARO) and American Eagle. She’s trying the newest designer brand of concealer make-up to hope you won’t notice that her same-store sales fell 17% and direct-to-consumer sales fell 6% for a combined decline of 15%.

It looks like the winner of this quarter’s coveted “Miss Wall Street High”  title will go to the Gap. To quote Heidi Klum, the maven of fashion and gossip, “Because in fashion, one day you are in, the next you are out.” And there is no place that lesson is learned better than in the finicky, discerning halls of Wall Street High. Will Gap hold her lead throughout the year? Probably so, but only time will tell.

The article 5 Teen Retailers Vie for the Coveted Title of Miss Wall Street High originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Erin McBride.

Erin McBride has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Erin is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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