Retail Earnings Slump: Sears, Abercrombie & Fitch Tumble While Foot Locker Surprises

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) plunged as much as 12 percent in pre-market trading Friday after the retailer cut its annual profit forecast.Shares of Abercrombie saw its biggest intraday decline since August 2012 Friday after analysts initially forecast disappointing results for retailer as the company still remains under fire for its CEO Mike Jeffries’ controversial comments that came to light earlier this month from a 2006 interview.The company said it lost $7.2 million, or 9 cents a share last quarter, compared to the loss of $21.3 million, or 25 cents a share reported during the year-ago quarter; however, it still trailed analysts estimates from Zacks Investment Research of a loss of 5 cents a share.The casual apparel retailer’s sales dropped almost 9 percent, while same-store sales tumbled 15 percent.Sales dropped 8.9 percent to $838.8 million, while same-store sales plunged 15 percent.“The first quarter proved to be more difficult than expected on the top-line due to more significant inventory shortage issues than anticipated, added to by external pressures,” said Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries in a statement.A&F also cautioned investors that same-store sales are expected to decline for the balance of the year.On Thursday, U.S. retailer Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: SHLD) reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss after the bell, as shares of the company fell $8.26, or 14 percent, to $58.17 in premarket trading.The retailer booked a first-quarter loss of $2.63 a share compared with profit of $189 million, or $1.78 a share a year earlier. Revenue fell 8.8 percent to $8.45 billion.Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL) released stronger-than-expected first-quarter results, along with improved sales at stores open longer than a year.Foot Locker reported net income of $138 million, or 90 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $128 million, or 83 cents.  EPS beat Zacks consensus estimate of 87 cents per share.The U.S. retailer's revenue for the quarter increased 3.8 percent to $1.64 billion compared with sales of $1.58 billion a year ago, topping analysts’ estimates for revenue to come in at $1.63 billion for the quarter.