American Eagle's stock takes flight after Wall Street's biggest bear says its time to stop selling

Shares of American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (AEO) climbed 5.1% toward a 20-month high in afternoon trading Wednesday, after BofA Securities analyst Christopher Nardone backed away from his bearish call a week before the apparel retailer reports fiscal third-quarter results. Nardone raised his rating to neutral, after being at underperform since July 2022, and lifted his stock price target to $19. He was previously the most bearish Wall Street analyst, as his prior $12.50 target was the lowest of the 12 analysts surveyed by FactSet. There is still one analyst that is bearish on the stock, with a $14 price target, while eight are neutral and three are bullish. The company is slated to report results on Nov. 21. Nardone said his upgrade is based on the expectation that there is "near-term momentum for upward estimate revisions" driven stronger than expected revenue. The current FactSet consensus is for fiscal third-quarter revenue of $1.28 billion, which is up from the $1.22 billion consensus at the end of July. The stock, which is headed for the highest close since March 2, 2022, has run up 40.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 17.4%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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11-15-23 1347ET

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