(Reuters) – Tapestry Inc on Thursday raised its annual profit forecast after topping Wall Street estimates for quarterly earnings, as Gen Z and millennial shoppers snapped up its Coach handbags, sending its shares up over 9% in premarket trading.
Luxury peer Ralph Lauren Corp also beat expectations on strong demand from younger affluent shoppers. Shares of the company climbed 2%.
The results are a sharp contrast to disappointing earnings and forecasts from rival Capri Holdings a day earlier that cast a shadow on luxury retailer earnings.
“Coach is a much stronger brand when it comes to product,” Jane Hali & Associates senior analyst Jessica Ramirez said, adding that Tapestry offers products that are more compelling to a younger generation than Capri’s Michael Kors or Versace.
New York-based Tapestry, which also owns the Stuart Weitzman brand, said nearly half of the about 2.6 million new customers it added in North America were Gen Z and millennials.
The company is also more insulated from a slowdown in demand at North American department stores highlighted by Capri and others, analysts have said, as the focus on own retail channels has helped tap into still strong consumer spending.
Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren said its brands gained market share in North America, even as its wholesale revenue decreased 2%. That was offset by a 2% increase in comparable sales at its own stores in the region.
Net revenue at Ralph Lauren rose 1% to $1.83 billion in the third quarter ended Dec. 31, while analysts had expected $1.76 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Tapestry forecast fiscal 2023 earnings of $3.70 to $3.75 per share, compared with its prior estimate of $3.60 to $3.70.
It reported a profit of $1.36 per share in the second quarter, topping estimates of $1.27.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
