Gap November sales measure up 3 pct, short of St.
Gap's revenue at stores open at least a year rose 3 percent in November, but missed Wall Street's expectations.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected an increase of 3.9 percent in the measure, which excludes results from stores that have recently opened or closed. That's an important gauge of a retailer's health, as it tracks trends at established stores.
Shares of Gap Inc. fell 82 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $35 in premarket trading Thursday.
The clothing company, which is based in San Francisco, broke down its sales trends by division:
— Up 5 percent at North American Gap stores
— Up 3 percent at Banana Republic's North American stores
— Up 1 percent for Old Navy shops in North America
— Up 3 percent in the international unit
Total revenue for the four weeks ended Nov. 24 rose 3 percent to $1.52 billion. That period includes Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Gap said it's "confident" about the weeks around Christmas, which can make up as much as 40 percent of a retailer's annual revenue.
Gap, whose other brands include Piperlime and Athleta, has about 3,000 company-operated stores and about 250 franchise stores in 90 countries.
For the year through November, revenue at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent. Total revenue rose 6 percent to $12.44 billion.
Earlier this month Gap raised its outlook for the year after reporting third-quarter profit that beat Wall Street expectations.
