US Stock Futures Little Changed as Gap, Abercrombie Round Out Retail Earnings

New York (Nov 18)  Stock futures were little changed on Friday as a mix of retail earnings from the likes of Foot Locker  (FL)  and Gap (GPS) pulled markets in two directions.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.05%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.02%, and Nasdaq futures added 0.06%.

Foot Locker fell 2% before the bell despite in-line quarterly sales and better-than-expected profit. The athletic shoe store chain earned $1.17 a share during the quarter, up from 57 cents a share a year earlier and 7 cents above consensus. Gross margins rose to 33.9% from 33.8%, while revenue increased nearly 6% to $1.89 billion. Same-store sales increased 4.7% as expected.

Gap moved lower in premarket trading after reporting in-line earnings and a drop in revenue over its third quarter. The apparel retailer earned 60 cents a share, as expected, while revenue slipped 1.6% to $3.8 billion. Third-quarter profit declined nearly 18%, while sales dropped for their seventh straight quarter. The company also said it would close 65 stores this year, higher than its originally planned 50 store closings.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) said third-quarter profit tumbled 81% as same-store sales in the period tumbled 6%, more than analysts' expectations. The stocks fell 10.1% in premarket trading.

=Williams-Sonoma (WSM) slumped 5% after a mixed third quarter. The homewares retailer earned 79 cents a share, 2 cents above estimates. Sales climbed 1.6% to $1.25 billion, but fell short of expectations by $10 million.

Source: TheStreet