Urban Outfitters says retail comp sales up so far in holiday

Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc (URBN.O) said in regulatory filing that retail segment same-store sales were up in the mid-single digits so far in the fourth quarter, sending its shares up 10 percent after the bell.

Urban Outfitters, Philadelphia, USA; Photo: Corbis Images

The numbers suggest the holiday season is off to a good start for the retailer, which posted has declines in retail segment same-store sales in two of its past three quarters. Retail segment net sales include direct-to-consumer channels.

"Regaining some positive momentum in the top-line could lift shares higher as investors look around the corner to potentially brighter days ahead for Urban Outfitters," Piper Jaffray analyst Neely Tamminga said in a client note.

Urban Outfitters, which operates Free People and Terrain stores apart from its namesake chain, posted a 7 percent decline in third-quarter same-store sales hurt by weakness at its struggling Anthropologie unit.

Shares of the Philadelphia-based company were trading up at $29.00 on Monday after the bell. They closed at $26.46 on Nasdaq. sending its shares up 10 percent after the bell.

(Reporting by Meenakshi Iyer in Bangalore; Editing by Viraj Nair)