Shares of New York & Company, Inc. (NWY) soared to attain a new 52-week high of $6.35 on Jun 21, 2013, before closing at $6.22. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has generated a year-to-date return of approximately 65.4%.
Based on the current price, this specialty retailer of women's fashion attire and accessories is approximately 18.5% above the Zacks Consensus average analyst price target of $5.25. The company currently trades at a forward P/E of 63.79x, a sharp premium to the peer group average of 18.09x.
New York & Co. has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 5 straight quarters by an average of 60.8%. In the recent concluded quarter, the company beat the Zacks Estimate by 128.6%. The long-term expected earnings growth rate for this stock is 20%.
New York & Co. posted better-than-expected first-quarter fiscal 2013 bottom-line results on May 23, thereby causing the shares to consistently attain new highs. During the quarter, the company’s earnings of 2 cents a share fared better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate’s loss of 7 cents as well as the comparable year-ago quarter’s break-even earnings on the back of improved margins and tax benefits related to the reversal of an uncertain tax position.
Net sales remained almost flat year over year at $227.5 million but exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $222 million. Gross profit for the quarter increased 2.8% to $66.3 million, whereas gross margin expanded 90 basis points to 29.2%, benefiting from increased markups from sourcing efficiencies and lower product costs.
New York & Company has been witnessing rising earnings estimates owing to impressive quarterly results. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2013 jumped to 10 cents a share from a loss of 3 cents in the last 60 days. For fiscal 2014, the Zacks Consensus Estimate surged to 24 cents from 9 cents over the same period.
Simultaneously, companies such as Zep Inc. (ZEP), GameStop Corp. (GME) and Cigna Corp. (CI) achieved new 52-week highs of $17.04, $41.53 and $71.40, respectively, on Jun 21.
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