Retail Sales Grow at a Record; Cato, HOTT Winners

Now we know what’s behind that plunge in consumer credit in February: March-same store sales growth hit a record high, we’re told by Thomson Reuters analyst Jharrone Martis, as 92% of retailers reporting same-store sales this morning produced an average 9.1% year-over-year gain for the month. That was way above Martis’s estimate for a 6.3% increase.

Women’s specialty apparel retailer Cato (CATO) had the biggest surprise of the group, reporting same-store sales up 24% versus an expected 4% rise. Cato shares are unchanged at $21.77 in early trading.

Hot Topic (HOTT), the youth/Goth apparel retailer, had the worst reported same-store sales, down 7.5%, but that was much better than the 11.2% analysts were expecting, so its shares are currently up $1.22, or 17%, at $8.28.

And Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) had the biggest disappointment, reporting a mere 5% jump in same-store sales in March versus the expected 6.6% increase. ANF is off $1.88, or 4%, at $45.66.