Select Winners & Losers in September Retail Sales (ANF, AEO, GPS, LTD, M, JWN, TGT, ZUMZ, RTH)

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is really getting its mojo back.  Comparable sales in September here rose a whopping 13% rather than a gain of just under 4% expected.  Shares are trading up 8.6% at $41.91.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is up after raised guidance and after posting September comparable sales gains of +4.0% versus an expected slight drop in the sales.  Shares are trading up over 5% at $15.80 this morning.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) was no winner.  Expectations were low and they came in lower: -2%, worse than expected as Banana Republic came in flat versus expectations of about 6% and as Old Navy saw a 5% drop. Shares are trading down 2.3% at $18.25 this morning.

Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD) said its stores came in at a surprising 12% in same store sales gains in September, while estimates were down closer to 4%.  Shares are trading up 3.8% at $28.64 in early morning trading.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) beat its expectations with a same store sales gain of +4.8% versus Thomson Reuters figures of 3.3%.  Macy’s shares were down at the open but shares are now up a whole penny at $23.72.

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) is throwing a bit of a curve ball this morning because it beat estimates but shares rolled over right after the open.  Its September same store sales were +7.5% versus expectations of about 4.3% according to Thomson Reuters data.  Shares were up as high as $37.90, but now shares are down 1.4% at $37.01 on the day.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) was a bit of a dud as same store sales for September came in at +1.3%.  We saw a Retail Metrics figure out there of 1.9% expected.  Target gave October guidance of ‘low single digit’ gains.  Shares were trading lower this morning but have recovered and now the stock is up 0.3% at $54.23.

Zumiez, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) is one where we had already seen some strong guidance, but the strong often get strogner.  Last night the sports apparel maker raised its Q3 guidance after posting a significant rise of 17% in same store sales in September.  Shares are trading up another 7.3% at $24.47 and it hit a new 52-week high this morning of $24.66.

As far as the real vote in retail stocks, the Retail HOLDRs (NYSE: RTH) ETF is still trying to make up its mind.  Shares are up $0.05 at $99.65 but shares have been trading between positive and negative.  In short, the verdict is still out.

JON C.OGG