Shares of Lands’ End Inc. were indicated up more than 3% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the casual clothing and accessories retailer swung to a surprise profit with sales growing 48%, as the recovery in its Outfitters business is occurring at a faster-than-forecast pace. Net income for the quarter to April 30 was $2.6 million, or 8 cents a share, after a loss of $20.6 million, or 64 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The average estimate of two analysts surveyed by FactSet was for a per-share loss of 29 cents. Sales rose 48.1% to $321.3 million from $217.0 million, as ecommerce sales increased 44.4% to $260.0 million. Gross margin improved to 46.0% from 43.4%, due primarily to merchandise margin expansion in the U.S. ecommerce business. For fiscal 2021, the company raised its revenue guidance range to between $1.61 billion and $1.65 billion from between $1.52 billion and $1.57 billion. The stock has hiked up 39.2% year to date, while the S&P 500 has advanced 11.9%.
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