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Bull of the Day: Urban Outfitters (URBN)

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Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN - Free Report) is coming off a record year for sales and profits in FY 2025. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is also a rare stock that has the “A” Zacks Style Scores across the board for Value, Growth and Momentum. “A” is the top Style Score.

Urban Outfitters is a global lifestyle-oriented retailer with numerous brands including Anthropologie, Free People, FP Movement, Urban Outfitters and Nuuly. It also operates 9 Menus & Venues restaurants.

Free People, FP Movement and Urban Outfitters also sells their products wholesale through department and specialty stores worldwide. Nuuly is primarily a women’s apparel subscription rental service which offers products from the Company’s own brands, but also third-party brands and one-of-a-kind vintage pieces.

As of Jan 31, 2025, it operated 255 Urban Outfitters stores, 239 Anthropologie stores, and 230 Free People stores, including 63 FP Movement stores. In addition to brick and mortar, it also operates catalogs and websites for each of those three brands.

Urban Outfitters Beats Big on Earnings in Fiscal Q4 2025

On Feb 26, 2025, Urban Outfitters reported its fiscal fourth quarter 2025 results, which was the all-important holiday quarter, and it beat on the Zacks Consensus for the fourth quarter in a row.

Earnings were $1.04, or $0.15 higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.89.

Net sales for the fourth quarter rose 10.1% to a record $1.64 billion.

The company has three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Subscription. In Retail, net sales rose 6.3% with comparable Retail net sales jumping 5.1%. Digital channel sales saw high single-digit growth while the stores themselves saw low single-digit growth.

Comparable Retail sales, which is the key metric in retail, were up 8.3% at Anthropologie and 8.0% at Free People but fell 3.5% at Urban Outfitters.

Subscription net sales rose by 55.6% compared to the previous year. It was driven by a 53.5% increase in average active subscribers in the current quarter versus a year ago.

Wholesale also jumped, rising 26.2%. It was driven by a 27% increase in Free People wholesale sales due to an increase in sales to specialty customers and department stores.

For the full year, the company also saw record sales, up 7.7% to $5.55 billion.

Inventory has been a sore spot for many retailers since the start of the pandemic. They either had too little, or too much.

Urban Outfitters inventory, as of Jan 31, 2025, rose 12.9%, or $70.9 million, compared to the year ago period. Retail segment comparable inventory rose 11.3% while Wholesale inventory soared 43.7%.

But the increase in inventory for both segments was planned. It was done to support increased sales and planned early receipts.

Analysts Bullish on Urban Outfitters in Fiscal 2026 and Beyond

What slowdown by the consumer? The analysts just don’t see it with Urban Outfitters and its strong brands.

For Fiscal 2026, 4 estimates were revised higher over the last 30 days which pushed the Zacks Consensus up to $4.54 from $4.34. That’s earnings growth of 11.8% as the company only made $4.06 last year.

Looking forward, analysts are even more bullish on Fiscal 2027. 1 estimate was raised in the last 30 days. The Fiscal 2027 Zacks Consensus Estimate is looking for $4.95, which would be further earnings growth of 8.9%.

Here is what it looks like on the 5-year price and consensus chart.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

URBN Shares Pull Back: Is This a Buying Opportunity?

Few stocks have escaped the March 2025 stock market pullback, including Urban Outfitters.

Year-to-date, the stock is now down 13.9%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

It’s cheap. It has a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 10.9. A P/E ratio under 15 usually indicates a company is undervalued.

Urban Outfitters also has an attractive price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.8. A P/S ratio under 1.0 usually indicates a stock has both growth and value. That’s a rare combination. Usually you get growth, or value, but not both.

For investors looking for a retailer that checks all the boxes, including having the highest Zacks Rank and the top Style Scores, then Urban Outfitters should be on your short list.


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