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Gap to beat lowered target
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May 10, 2001: 9:31 a.m. ET
Clothier expects to exceed current 1Q forecast though same-store sales fell
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Gap Inc. refined its first-quarter earnings guidance Thursday, saying it now expects its earning to top lowered forecasts.
The company said it expects to report earnings of 12 or 13 cents a share for the quarter ended May 5. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call expected the company to post earnings of 11 cents a share for the period.
On March 1, the company warned it would earn 10 to 15 cents per share in the period, which caused analysts immediately to lower forecasts to 13 cents a share from the 20 cent a share forecast at the time of the warning. It was only the latest in a series of earnings warning from the San Francisco-based chain.
The nation's leading clothing retailer said sales at stores open at least a year, a closely watched retail measure known as same-store sales, fell 2 percent in the four weeks ended May 5, after showing a 7 percent gain in April 2000. The report comes on the same day other major retailers reported modest April sales.
Same-store sales declined at both domestic and international Gap stores as well as at its Banana Republic stores, although its lower-priced Old Navy stores had a modest same-store sales gain that was below year-earlier performance.
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Overall sales for the company increased 13 percent to $3.2 billion for the four-week period.
Shares of Gap (GPS: Research, Estimates) gained 21 cents to $28.80 in trading Wednesday ahead of the new earnings guidance and sales results. 
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