Zacks Research Has Negative Forecast for AEO Q3 Earnings

Key Points

• Analysts at Zacks Research have lowered their Q3 2026 earnings estimates for American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) to $0.41 per share, down from $0.43, maintaining a "Hold" rating on the stock.
• The company reported $0.45 EPS for its last quarter, exceeding expectations of $0.20, with revenues of $1.28 billion, compared to the anticipated $1.23 billion.
• American Eagle Outfitters recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, with a yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 48.08%.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2026 earnings estimates for shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, September 16th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the apparel retailer will earn $0.41 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.43. Zacks Research currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for American Eagle Outfitters' current full-year earnings is $1.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for American Eagle Outfitters' Q4 2026 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.36 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.42 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.56 EPS, Q2 2028 earnings at $0.41 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $1.38 EPS.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. American Eagle Outfitters had a net margin of 3.74% and a return on equity of 13.67%. American Eagle Outfitters's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on AEO. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Cfra Research downgraded shares of American Eagle Outfitters from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $12.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $10.00 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of American Eagle Outfitters in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of American Eagle Outfitters from $10.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Eagle Outfitters presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $14.72.

American Eagle Outfitters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AEO traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $18.87. 11,335,539 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,952,220. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company's 50 day moving average is $13.68 and its 200 day moving average is $11.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 1.45. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $9.27 and a one year high of $22.63.

American Eagle Outfitters Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. American Eagle Outfitters's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Eagle Outfitters news, Director Noel Joseph Spiegel sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.12, for a total transaction of $724,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 54,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.14, for a total value of $996,793.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 221,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,880.98. This represents a 19.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,821 shares of company stock valued at $2,465,436 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AEO. NFJ Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 119,074 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 53,923 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,173 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 101,127 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Eagle Outfitters by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,937 shares of the apparel retailer's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.33% of the company's stock.

About American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc operates as a multi-brand specialty retailer in the United States and internationally. The company provides jeans, apparel and accessories, and personal care products for women and men under the American Eagle brand; and intimates, apparel, activewear, and swim collections under the Aerie and OFFLINE by Aerie brands.