By Ananya Mariam Rajesh
(Reuters) -Levi Strauss & Co quarterly results beat Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, helped by price increases and strong demand for its jeans, tops and jackets as more people venture out and attend social events.
Shares of the jeans maker, which reaffirmed its revenue and profit forecast for 2022, rose about 2% in extended trading.
Levi has benefited from price increases aimed at mitigating the impact of supply chain disruptions, inventory shortages and inflationary pressures, while an accelerating trend for high-rise jeans and loose-fitting clothes has also helped drive sales in companies such as Levi and Wrangler.
Double-digit sales growth in every market helped the company offset some of the headwinds, and more full-price sales and lower promotions boosted the company’s performance, Telsey Advisory Group retail analyst Dana Telsey said.
Levi first-quarter revenue rose 21.8% to $1.59 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.55 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The San Francisco-based company’s net income for the quarter ended Feb. 27 rose to $195.8 million, or 48 cents per share, from $142.5 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, Levi earned 46 cents per share, above estimates of 42 cents per share.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
