Aeropostale April same-store sales surge, lifts 1Q outlook

NEW YORK—Teen retailer Aeropostale Inc. said Thursday its sales at stores open at least a year surged 25 percent in April, easily beating analysts' expectations for 7.1 percent growth, and lifted its outlook for the first quarter.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key measure of retailer performance, because it measures growth at existing stores rather than from newly-opened ones.

Total sales for the four-week period ended May 3 increased 39 percent to $104.9 million from $75.4 million a year ago.

For the first quarter, total sales increased 22 percent to $336.3 million from $275.8 million, as same-store sales rose 10 percent.

Based on the better-than-expected sales and gross margins for the month, Aeropostale raised its quarterly profit outlook to 25 cents per share, from a prior estimated range of 20 cents to 22 cents per share.

On average, analysts predict profit of 22 cents per share on revenue of $317 million.

The company currently operates 818 Aeropostale stores in 48 states, 15 stores in Canada, 1 in Puerto Rico and 14 Jimmy'Z stores in 11 states.

In morning trading, shares fell 12 cents to $32.08, but earlier hit a new 52-week high of $34.02.