Apparel Earnings Winners and Losers: Ralph Lauren Takes Off

Key Points

• As apparel companies reported their financial results, three names stood out.
• Notably, Ralph Lauren shares saw one of its largest gains in recent memory, driven by strong bottom-line performance.
• However, analysts are eyeing gains of over 50% in another name that had a solid quarter.

Key apparel companies, including well-known names and emerging ones generating growth near the top of the industry, just reported financial results. The good news is that all posted beats on sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS). The bad news is that despite this, not all saw their share prices rise. These are the biggest winners and losers from recent apparel stock earnings.

Top Winner: Ralph Lauren Sees Biggest Single-Day Gain Since April 2025

Ralph Lauren NYSE: RL was clearly the biggest winner from the latest round of apparel earnings. The stock saw a huge 13.9% spike after its report, with the firm posting several strong beats and solid guidance. In its fiscal Q4 2026, Ralph Lauren posted revenue of $1.98 billion, a significant increase of nearly 17% year-over-year (YOY). Note that the firm’s fiscal reporting period is several quarters ahead of the calendar period. This was in line with the peak of the company’s growth range over the past three years. The company’s revenue handily beat expectations by over $130 million.

Meanwhile, adjusted EPS increased considerably faster, by 23% YOY to $2.80. This figure crushed estimates of $2.52. Ralph Lauren noted that women’s apparel, outerwear, and handbags were particularly strong, growing by 20% YOY. It expects sales growth in these products to continue to be above overall company growth.

In its fiscal year 2027, Ralph Lauren expects to generate mid-single-digit sales growth, centered at 4% to 5% YOY. Additionally, it expects meaningful margin expansion, forecasting an operating margin increase of between 40 and 60 basis points. The company’s revenue growth forecast was slightly ahead of estimates. Overall, better-than-expected results on the top and bottom lines clearly got investors' attention, leading to Ralph Lauren’s largest single-day gain in over a year.

Winner: Amer Sports Delivers Over 30% Growth, Raises Guidance

Amer Sports NYSE: AS has performed very well since going public in 2024, up more than 150% from that point. The increasing popularity of its Arc’teryx brand has largely driven this. However, the stock has traded sideways for about a year and is down moderately in 2026. Luckily, the firm went on a solid run in the days after reporting earnings, up more than 5%.

Amer saw sales grow by 32% YOY to $1.95 billion, beating estimates of $1.84 billion significantly. Furthermore, adjusted EPS increased by nearly 40% YOY to 38 cents. This was far above expectations of 31 cents, which called for growth of only 15%. The firm’s Technical Apparel segment, led by Arc’teryx, put up another strong performance with 33% growth. The Outdoor Performance segment did even better, rising 42% YOY, driven by the Salomon brand.

Furthermore, Amer raised its full-year guidance to now project sales growth of between 20% and 22% YOY. This was a very significant boost over past expectations of 16% to 18% YOY. Adjusted EPS expectations also moved up to a range of $1.18 to $1.23, compared to past forecasts of $1.10 to $1.15. This update implies EPS growth of 24% YOY at the midpoint. Overall, this was a strong showing for a company that is growing at one of the fastest rates in the apparel industry.

Slight Loser: Deckers Falls Despite Big EPS Beat

Markets were less keen on the results of Deckers Outdoor NYSE: DECK, with shares opening only 1% higher the day after the report. Despite this, the results themselves were strong.

Revenue rose by 10% YOY to $1.12 billion, exceeding estimates by more than $30 million. Adjusted EPS fell by 4% YOY to 96 cents, but this drop-off was much better than the 14% YOY decline analysts anticipated. Decker’s Hoka brand performed particularly well, with sales rising by 15% YOY to $671 million—the brand’s highest quarterly revenue ever.

The firm also provided better-than-expected full-year fiscal 2027 guidance. (Note that Decker’s fiscal year reporting period is several quarters ahead of the calendar period.)

The firm projects net consolidated sales of $5.86 billion to $5.91 billion and adjusted EPS of $7.30 to $7.45.

Deckers also announced a significant $3.5 billion increase to its buyback authorization, bringing its total capacity to around $5 billion. Decker’s now holds massive buyback capacity, equal to over 30% of the company’s market capitalization, giving it significant ability to continue adding a tailwind to per-share metrics.

DECK shares rose nearly 9% in the two trading days prior to the release. Thus, investors can walk away feeling relatively satisfied that the stock kept this gain, even if it didn't rally the day after its earnings report.

Updated Targets Forecast Over 50% Gain in Amer Sports

Among this group, analysts continue to forecast big-time upside in Amer Sports. The MarketBeat consensus price target on Amer sits near $48, implying well over 30% upside. Targets updated after the company’s report are considerably more optimistic, averaging nearly $54. This updated average suggests that the stock could rise by more than 50%.