(Reuters) – Apparel retailer Gap Inc
Shares of the company rose about 4% after the bell.
The company benefited from demand for comfortable, affordable apparel sold at Athleta and Old Navy as people work and study from home.
Gap said online sales surged 95% and it added 3.5 million new customers through its website and app.
“We nearly doubled our e-commerce business, with approximately 50% online penetration,” Chief Executive Officer Sonia Syngal said.
Sales at Athleta rose 6%, while they were down 5% at Old Navy, largely due pandemic-led store closures.
Analysts had forecast a 20.97% fall in comparable sales, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The San Francisco-based retailer reported a net loss of $62 million, or 17 cents per share, for the second quarter ended Aug. 1, compared to a profit of $168 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier.
Net sales fell about 18% to $3.28 billion, but were above expectations of $2.91 billion.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
