Abercrombie & Fitch, lululemon, and Crocs are among the retailers that exceeded expectations over the holidays

The trend: Several prominent retailers delivered better-than-expected results over the holiday season.

The details:

• Pandora A/S’s quarterly revenues beat estimates thanks in part to strong holiday and Black Friday sales of its charm bracelets and other jewelry in the US.
• Abercrombie & Fitch Co.’s womens business is on track to deliver its highest-ever Q4 sales results, which is a key reason it now expects its Q4 sales to be in the “high teens” percentage, compared with its previous guidance of a “low double digit” percentage gain. It also raised its operating margin guidance to around 15%, up from its previous range of 12% to 14%.
• Lululemon Athletica Inc. expects net revenues to rise 14% to 15% to $3.17 billion to $3.19 billion for the fourth fiscal quarter, up from its previous range of $3.14 billion to $3.17 billion.
• American Eagle Outfitters’ Q4-to-date revenues through December 30 are up roughly 8%, with American Eagle up by high single digits and Aerie in the low teens.
• Crocs expects Q4 revenues to grow over 1%, outpacing its previous guidance of -4% to -1%, with the Crocs Brand growing almost 10% and HeyDude down 19%.

The big takeaway: There’s a common thread across the US Commerce Department’s November retail sales data (up 4.1% year-over-year), MasterCard SpendingPulse’s November 1 through December 24 report (up 3.1% YoY), and Adobe Analytics’ online spending report covering the final two months of the year (up 4.9% YoY): Consumer spending was solid over the holiday season despite lingering inflation, sluggish consumer confidence, and shrinking excess savings.

• Despite Nike’s December warning of weakening consumer spending, it is now clear that several retailers found ways to push past those headwinds.