Urban Outfitters' formerly struggling namesake store chain is now driving sales gains

By Bill Peters

Same-store sales at Urban Outfitters stores were up 9.6% in the fourth quarter

Urban Outfitters' stock is up more than 23% over the past 12 months.

Shares of Urban Outfitters rose Thursday after the retailer reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by a turnaround at its namesake stores.

The retailer - which also runs the women's-clothing chains Anthropologie and Free People - reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.43, with $1.8 billion in sales. Same-store sales were up 5.5%, with all three chains reporting increases. Urban Outfitters stores led those gains, with a 9.6% increase, following a decline in the year-earlier period.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.26 on revenue of $1.79 billion and a 5% same-store-sales gain.

Shares (URBN), which ended a volatile after-hours session about flat, were up 4.5% at midday on Thursday.

The chain's quarterly results come as Wall Street tries to get a read on consumers' attitudes this year, as well as the impact from the Supreme Court's ruling last week against the Trump administration's use of emergency-powers tariffs. Those tariffs had forced some retailers to shake up their supply chains, cut costs and raise prices. The court's decision could lead to a messy refund process, even as President Donald Trump has already imposed new tariffs citing a different legal authority.

See: Trump digs in his heels on tariffs - with major implications for the U.S. dollar

Urban Outfitters' stock is up more than 23% over the past 12 months, as the company has tried to make its namesake stores more welcoming and to maintain bigger gains at Anthropologie.

The company's Urban Outfitters locations have suffered from a reported loss of clarity on the preferences of its mainly youthful shoppers, who have struggled more acutely with inflation over the past several years. The company in 2024 said that it would shift away from the "alternative sensibility" that has marked those stores, and that it would plan to target more consumers in the suburbs.

In November last year, Chief Executive Richard Hayne said that "customer engagement was lively" during the third quarter, and that customers were still showing a willingness to buy the company's clothing at full price, even as they held out for more generous holiday deals and spent cautiously overall. He said then that he felt there was "little need" to raise prices in 2026.

Some analysts expect a rebound for the retail segment this year, as wealthier shoppers benefit from tax relief and as lower interest rates offer a potential boost to the economy.

Read on: Trump says in State of the Union that 'prices are plummeting.' Here's what the data say.

-Bill Peters

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-26-26 1251ET