Abercrombie didn't have to be perfect. With the stock down 50% since January, even after a HUGE bounce, Abercrombie & Fitch just had to be decent. Anything better than about a 20% guidance cut would have been acceptable. Word was that foot traffic at Abercrombie was lousy. That left ne'er do well Hollister to bail out the corporate ship while $ANF tried to find a bottom. Hollister has had a nice few quarters but that wasn't going to be enough to offset the end of Abercrombie's name-brand and the huge 5 year heater of double-digit comps and fat margins.
Turns out, Hollister had plenty. The tariffs weren't so bad. Business was pretty much fine. Wall Street rejoiced...