By Connor Hart

Abercrombie & Fitch said sales climbed in its fiscal first quarter, even as the company faced softer demand in parts of the world due to the war in the Middle East.

The clothing company on Wednesday posted a profit of $67.1 million for its quarter ended May 2, down from $80.4 million in last year's comparable period. Quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.47 a share topped the $1.28 a share that analysts polled by FactSet expected.

Sales climbed 1.5% to $1.11 billion, just shy of the $1.12 billion that Wall Street modeled.

Comparable sales--which account for store openings and closings--slipped 1% across the company during the recent quarter, reflecting flat sales across its namesake brand and a 2% decrease across its Hollister brand. Analysts had expected same-store sales to tick up 0.3%.

Chief Executive Fran Horowitz said trends remained strong in the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions during the period. However, demand softened across Europe, the Middle East and Africa as fighting in parts of the region escalated.

"We are proactively managing inventory and marketing to support the region," Horowitz said, adding that Abercrombie is also continuing to invest in stores to strengthen its brands and customer experiences.

For the current quarter, Abercrombie guided for earnings of $1.80 to $2 a share and for sales to grow 2% to 4%. Analysts were looking for earnings of $2.54 a share and for sales to climb approximately 3.8%.

For the year, the company continues to expect earnings of $10.20 to $11 a share, as well as sales growth of 3% to 5%. That compares with Wall Street models for earnings of $10.68 a share, with sales growth of about 3.8%.

Shares rose 4.3%, to $78, in premarket trading.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 27, 2026 08:17 ET (12:17 GMT)

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