Investing.com -- Shares in Urban Outfitters Inc (NASDAQ:URBN) soared more than 12% on Monday, after topping analysts forecasts with its fourth quarter earnings of fiscal year 2016 even as the Philadelphia-based retailer reported declining profits for the second consecutive period.
During the three-month period which ended in late-January, Urban Outfitters reported net profits of $72.9 million or 0.61 per share, slightly below earnings of $80.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share inched up by 0.1, after Urban Outfitters saw its shares outstanding decrease by 16% over the last year. Analysts expected to see per share earnings of 0.56 for the quarter.
Revenues, meanwhile, on an annual basis remained relatively flat at $1.01 billion. In terms of comparable sales, revenues increased 2% at the company's Free People segment, while decreasing at least 2% at both its Anthropologie Group and namesake Urban Outfitters brands.
"While apparel sales underperformed during the fourth quarter, I am pleased with the merchandise margin improvement delivered by the brands," said Richard A. Hayne, Urban Outfitters Chief Executive Officer.
For the year, Urban Outfitters opened 31 new stores including: 14 Anthropologie Group stores, 13 Free People stores, and four Urban Outfitters stores. The company also closed five stores, including two from its namesake brand.
"Additionally, our expansion categories performed above our expectations and continue to give us confidence in our future growth opportunities," Hayne added.
Shares in Urban Outfitters soared 3.44 or 12.22% to 31.60.