Abercrombie & Fitch Shares Plummet 14% After Missing EPS Estimates For Second Straight Quarter

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF delivered lower-than-expected earnings for the second straight quarter.

The specialty retailer reported a net loss per share of $0.19 for the second quarter compared to a net loss per share of $0.01 in the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, its loss per share would have been $0.25 versus net income of $0.12 a share in the year-ago period. This is wider than a net loss per share of $0.20 estimated by analysts.

Abercrombie & Fitch's net sales fell 4 percent from $817.76 million to $783.2 million and came in slightly ahead of the analysts' predictions of $782.71 million. Its comparable sales were down 4 percent.

Executive Chairman, Arthur Martinez, commented, "Overall, we remained disciplined as gross margin rate was substantially maintained on a constant currency basis and expense and inventory were tightly controlled. This quarter we began to roll out programs that reflect our new brand positions for both Abercrombie and Hollister."

Going forward, the specialty retailer expects comparable sales to remain challenging in the second half of the current year. The company expects adverse foreign currency effects on sales to be about $25 million and on operating income to be about $20 million with most of the impact in the third quarter.

Shares of the company traded down by $3.00, or 13.07 percent, to $19.95 in the pre-market trading on Tuesday.