Urban Outfitters comes up short in Q3

Urban Outfitters posted sales and earnings for its third quarter that failed to meet analysts expectation amid a traffic slowdown and increased promotions at its Anthropologie and Free People stores.



Urban Outfitters earned $47 million, or 40 cents a share, in the third quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with $52 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-ago period.



Sales rose 5% to $862 million, compared with $825 million a year ago. Same-store sales, which include online, rose 1%.



By brand, retail net sales increased 5.2% at Urban Outfitters, and decreased 1.5% at Free People and 2.7% at the Anthropologie Group.



“Despite well-controlled inventory, Anthropologie was not able to hold their markdowns flat this quarter due to their challenging women’s apparel performance,” Urban Outfitters CFO Frank Conforti said on the chain’s quarterly conference call.