NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 26, 2017 / Abercrombie and Fitch's shares rally after Q1 report reveals that Hollister comparable sales grew more than analysts had expected. Lowe's also reported first quarter earnings that were disappointing compared to what the Street had expected and even more disappointing next to rival Home Depot's Q1 report earlier in the week. RDI Initiates Coverage on:

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=ANF

Lowe's Companies, Inc.https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=LOW

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s shares rallied on Thursday and closed up 9% after the company posted a smaller-than-expected drop in same-store sales in the first quarter thanks to the help of its Hollister Brand. While comparable sales at A&F stores fell 10%, they rose 3% at its sister store Hollister. The 3% growth was way ahead of what analysts had looked for at 0.8%. CEO Fran Horowitz said on a call, "While we anticipate the second quarter environment to remain promotional, we expect results to improve further in the second half of the year." Earlier in the month it was announced that Abercrombie & Fitch hired investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners as the company is open to takeover interest. Shares of Abercrombie are down around 85% since the stock's all time high back in 2007 and is trading at near 16 year lows.

Access RDI's Abercrombie & Fitch Research Report at: https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=ANF

Lowe's Companies, Inc.'s shares closed up 1.85% on Thursday. A modest come back after shares fell as much as 7% after the company released its first quarter earnings report this week. Earnings per share of $1.03 adjusted came in three cents shy of the $1.06 that analysts had expected on average. Revenue at $16.86 billion also trailed behind the forecast of $16.96 and same-store sales only saw a 1.9% increase while analysts according to FactSet had been looking for a 2.9% growth. CEO Robert Niblock said in a statement, "A solid macroeconomic backdrop, combined with our project expertise, drove above average performance in indoor projects. We also continued to advance our sales to Pro customers, delivering another quarter of comparable sales growth well above the company average." Lowes share were up as much as 16% YTD as of Tuesday's close before the earnings release. Rival Home Depot outshined Lowe's this week with their earnings report so that didn't help build investor confidence.

Access RDI's Lowe's Companies Research Report at: https://ub.rdinvesting.com/news/?ticker=LOW

Our Actionable Research on Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) and Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

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SOURCE: RDinvesting.com