Abercrombie and Lululemon report early holiday results

Abercrombie and Fitch, Lululemon and American Eagle Outfitters all raised their fiscal fourth-quarter outlooks Monday, saying they drew customers looking for holiday gifts and items for themselves in November and December.

Yet Wall Street greeted the news with varying levels of enthusiasm Monday morning. Shares of Abercrombie and Amercian Eagle shot up more than 8%. And Lululemon sank by less than 1%, after investors weighed the forecast raise with concerns that the athletic apparel retailer may face tougher competition in the months ahead.

The companies shared the latest quarterly forecasts ahead of meetings with investors and analysts at the ICR Conference this week in Orlando. Other retailers are also expected to release holiday updates during the three-day event.

So far, holiday spending estimates have struck a positive note. Online sales rose 4.9% year over year to $222.1 billion in November and December, according to Adobe Analytics. Retail sales during the holiday season, excluding automotive sales, grew 3.1% in the U.S. year over year, according to preliminary data from Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-store and online retail sales across all types of payment.

Yet it’s still unclear which retailers captured more of those dollars spent by holiday shoppers.

American Eagle looks like a winner. It said quarter-to-date revenue is up by about 8% as of Dec. 30, with its namesake brand’s sales increasing by the high single-digits and Aerie increasing by the low teens. It said it expects both revenue and operating profit to be better than expected for the fiscal fourth-quarter.

The company said fiscal fourth-quarter revenue will be up low double digits and operating profit is expected to be about $130 million, compared with previous guidance of $105 million to $115 million.

American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein said in a news release that the retailer’s momentum “has…