ORLANDO, Fla. — Big-name retailers reported largely better-than-expected holiday quarter results on Monday, but their shares fell amid a lackluster performance on Wall Street.

lululemon, Abercrombie & Fitch and american eagle It raised its fourth-quarter forecast on Monday after seeing a strong response from consumers during the important holiday season. urban clothing store The holidays also saw strong growth, but macy’s department store said its key quarter was worse than expected.

Still, shares of all of these companies were down in early trading Monday, with many down more than 5%. Abercrombie’s shares were among the biggest decliners, down about 20%, as investors wondered whether its rapid growth It’s coming to an end.

Lululemon now expects sales to grow 11% to 12% to $3.56 billion to $3.58 billion, up from the previous range of $3.48 billion to $3.51 billion.

Excluding the company’s additional fiscal week in the fourth quarter of 2024, Lululemon expects sales to grow 6% to 7%.

The company also raised its profit forecast. Lululemon now forecasts fourth-quarter earnings per share of $5.81 to $5.85, compared with previous guidance of $5.56 to $5.64. The company expects gross margin to increase by 0.3 percentage points, after previously forecasting a decline of 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points.

“Our guests responded well to our product offerings during the holidays, allowing us to increase our fourth-quarter guidance,” Treasurer Megan Frank said in a statement.

Abercrombie, meanwhile, also expects its holiday quarter results to be slightly better than expected. The apparel company raised its net sales growth forecast to 7% to 8%, compared with previous guidance of 5% to 7%.

Abercrombie currently expects full-year sales to grow 15%. The company had expected sales to grow 14% to 15% during the period.

The outlook is a far cry from the staggering numbers Abercrombie posted last year, when holiday sales jumped 21% compared with the same period last year.

Investors who are bullish on Abercrombie would say it makes sense to see the company’s growth start to slow as it matures and compares to the same period last year, but after about two years of explosive stock growth, some might will turn bearish.

Still, Abercrombie’s full-year sales guidance remains close to last year’s forecast, when revenue rose 16%.

Abercrombie CEO Fran Horowitz said in a press release that going forward, the company will be more focused on improving profits rather than sales as it looks to “drive long-term shareholder value.”

“With two years of double-digit revenue and profit expected, I am as confident as ever in the power of our brand and operating model, supported by the exceptional capabilities we have built,” Horowitz said. will move on.” “Through 2025, we will seek to continue to deliver sustainable profitable growth by executing on our strategy to win and retain customers around the world. We aim to leverage our healthy profit structure and balance sheet to increase operating income And earnings per share are improving faster than sales.”

The retailers issued their guidance ahead of the annual ICR meeting in Orlando, where some of the nation’s best-known retailers are expected to report holiday results ahead of schedule and meet with investors and analysts to discuss their results. The conference, which brings together Wall Street’s largest banks, law firms, private equity firms and investors, is known to set the tone for consumer trading and retailer results at the start of the year.

Macy’s, which is expected to attend the conference, also released early results but stopped short of sharing the good news like some rivals. The department store now expects sales to be at or slightly below its previous range of $7.8 billion to $8 billion. Its stock price fell more than 6% intraday.

Urban Outfitters also released holiday results ahead of schedule and said net sales in the two months ended Dec. 31 were up 10% compared with the same period last year. Comparable retail segment sales increased 6%, driven by strong online sales.

Comparable sales at Urban’s namesake brand fell 4% as the chain continued to lag behind Anthropologie and Free People, which saw comparable sales rise 10% and 9%, respectively.

Meanwhile, sales at Urban’s rental service Nuuly surged 55%, driven by a 53% increase in average active users.

The stock price fell more than 6% during the session.

American Eagle also raised its fourth-quarter forecast and said it expected operating profit of about $135 million, up from its previous guidance of $125 million. The company said comparable sales rose by low single digits in the quarter ended Jan. 4, compared with previous guidance for a 1% increase.

However, the company said total revenue will be down about 5% because American Eagle’s fiscal calendar will be one week shorter than last year. The timing is expected to impact fourth-quarter sales of $85 million and full-year sales of $60 million.

Shares fell about 4%.

Overall, the holiday shopping season is not expected to see the usual sales blowout in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Retail Federation said sales are expected to be 2.5% and 3.5%. When inflation is taken into account, real growth is Expected to be minimal.

Still, some early data suggests the holidays could be a Better Better than expected.

U.S. holiday quarter retail sales, excluding auto sales, A year-on-year increase of 3.8% The campaign ran between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, according to Mastercard’s SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online sales across payment types.