American Eagle Is a Work in Progress By Scott Rothbort About this article: For Rothbort's preview heading into the American Eagle Outfitters conference call, please click here. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) hit the high side of guidance and bettered analysts sales expectations. What is propelling the stock, however, is the abandonment of the Martin + Osa concept, one that has perplexed me ever since the company announced its formation several years ago. American Eagle spent 2009 consolidating its operations, improving margins and focusing on the aerie concept. Now the company has to recapture the teen/tween market that it seems to have lost over the past two years to competitors such as Urban Outfitters (URBN) and Aeropostale (ARO). American Eagle is a work in progress, and I would categorize it as a broken growth stock that now may deliver some value to patient investors. The company reported EPS of 33 cents (excluding 5 cents for impairment charges) on net sales of $972.0... To read the rest of this article and sign up for a FREE trial click here...

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