(Filed Under wholesale Lingerie News). Aerie sales for fiscal 2020 will hit $1 billion, and the brand plans to invest heavily in new stores and digital growth, projecting fiscal 2023 sales of $2 billion and operating income of $310 million.

This and other information was contained in a new investor presentation and SEC filings from parent company American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), which said it was targeting overall company revenue in 2023 of $5.5 billion and $550 million in operating income.

For Aerie, the plan is to expand from the 342 locations in claimed as of the third quarter of 2020 (a mix of “standalones, side-by-sides and Offline” (the name of its new activewear brand), to 550 by 2023. (Conversely, AEO is aiming to shrink to “600-700” American Eagle stores in the U.S. and Canada, down from 880 in Q3 2020.

Noting that Aerie has registered “24 consecutive quarters of double digit growth,” AEO emphasized that it intends to provide “additional transparency into the growth of the Aerie brand,” and revealed considerable financial details which prior to this has been hidden.

For example, AEO had frequently teased that Aerie’s revenue was nearing $1 billion without releasing actual numbers. In the latest investor presentation it revealed the brand’s total net revenue in fiscal 2019 was $801.0 (with adjusted operating income of $67.7 million), and $627.8 million in 2018 (with adjusted operating income of $39.6 million).

In addition, AEO reported that in the first fiscal quarter of 2020, Aerie registered an adjusted operating loss of $0.9 million on total net revenue of $155.0 million; in Q2, an adjusted operating income of $30.4 million on total net revenue of $251.5 million; and in Q3 an adjusted operating income of $35.7 million on total net revenue of $246.7 million. AEO’s fourth quarter and fiscal 2020 financial results will be reported on March 3, 2021

In 2020 the company estimated 31% of Aerie’s sales came from intimates; 33% came from “soft apparel;” 20% came from activewear and its the new Offline brand; 13% came from swim; and 2% came from beauty and accessories.

AEO also provide details on Aerie’s performance in fiscal 2019. In Q1, Aerie reported adjusted operating income of $8.3 million on total net revenue of $157.0 million; in Q2, an adjusted operating income of $10.1 million on total net revenue of $190.1 million; in Q3 an adjusted operating income of $17.6 million on total net revenue of $183.9 million; and in Q4 an adjusted operating income of $31.7 million on total net revenue of $270.0 million.

In a section of the presentation entitled “Aerie’s Roadmap to $2 Billion,” the company cited the factors leading to that growth as market expansion, activewear product extension, winning in intimates and lounge and new customer acquisition. In a section entitled “Aerie’s Massive Runway in an Attractive Addressable Market,” it cited NPD estimates from December 2019: the total U.S. women’s apparel market, $123 billion; intimates, soft apparel, swim and activewear, $65 billion; and intimates, soft apparel and swim, $44 billion. — NM

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Published 03-03-2021 by Nick Monjo