M. Suhail/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Investment summary My previous investment thought on Abercrombie & Fitch ( ANF ) was a sell rating because I continue to see weakness at the core Abercrombie brand, and management guidance effectively told us core earnings were going to be weak. I no longer think ANF deserves a sell rating anymore. The Abercrombie brand is not deteriorating; the inventor...
M. Suhail/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Investment summary My previous investment thought on Abercrombie & Fitch ( ANF ) was a sell rating because I continue to see weakness at the core Abercrombie brand, and management guidance effectively told us core earnings were going to be weak. I no longer think ANF deserves a sell rating anymore. The Abercrombie brand is not deteriorating; the inventory position looks much healthier, and that gives management more room to price selectively. The problem is that margins are still not clean, with Q1 likely to look weak because of tariffs and the ERP transition. That is why my view now shifts to a hold. Abercrombie is no longer getting worse Recall my previous update; I turned negative because too many things were moving the wrong way at the same time. The biggest issue was the flagship Abercrombie brand, for which I believed demand had weakened. While traffic was holding up better than conversion, the product assortment was clearly not working. The encouraging development here is that this part of the story appears to have turned around. While it is still early to call this a trend, the Abercrombie brand did return to positive net sales growth in Q4, up 4% y/y. It is true that comparable sales were still down 1%, but positive revenue growth does imply some form of recovery. Importantly, the turnaround was due to not just continuous strong traffic but also growth in customer counts and good retention trends. Management also said conversion improved as the year went on. These qualitative data points speak more than what the headline suggests, in my view. This tells me that the current set of product assortments is working (which was the key problem previously). To be fair, this does not mean the brand is fixed. On a full-year basis, the Abercrombie brand sales were still down 1%, with comps down 7%. Also, note that some of the Q4 strength came from categories like fleece, outerwear, and YPB, and I would read that as a sign th...
De Zerbi looks past Simons, Arsenal fans are not helping their team and Ngumoha can give PSG something to think about Football is such that, when you’re down, there’s a good chance the game boots you in the solar plexus, and that’s exactly what happened to Tottenham at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland’s winner coming by way of a deflection. But you can also take steps to help yourself and, though ...
De Zerbi looks past Simons, Arsenal fans are not helping their team and Ngumoha can give PSG something to think about Football is such that, when you’re down, there’s a good chance the game boots you in the solar plexus, and that’s exactly what happened to Tottenham at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland’s winner coming by way of a deflection. But you can also take steps to help yourself and, though Roberto De Zerbi’s midfield setup made some sense – he picked three hard-runners in order to compete with Sunderland’s physicality – even pre-match, it wasn’t clear who would create their chances. It’s true that Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Mohammed Kudus are out injured, but in that context, it is surely even more important a place in the XI, whether in midfield or out wide, be found for Xavi Simons, left on the sidelines until the 85th minute. Simons is not perfect, but of the players De Zerbi has available he is the only one with the imagination and technique to make things happen. He may lack physicality, but what Spurs need more than anything is quality. Daniel Harris Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham Match report: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth Match report: Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City City improve in good weather, says Guardiola Continue reading...
Wales and Scotland produced drama at the Principality Stadium while England and Ireland drew a record crowd as the tournament began at major venues Sporting theatre reached Shakespearean heights at the Principality Stadium on Saturday as Wales and Scotland produced the best match of the opening Women’s Six Nations weekend. Welsh hearts broke seven minutes past the full 80 as Scotland managed to ge...
Wales and Scotland produced drama at the Principality Stadium while England and Ireland drew a record crowd as the tournament began at major venues Sporting theatre reached Shakespearean heights at the Principality Stadium on Saturday as Wales and Scotland produced the best match of the opening Women’s Six Nations weekend. Welsh hearts broke seven minutes past the full 80 as Scotland managed to get a comeback win over the line. The fixture had sensational tries and late drama, and played out on BBC Two. The only thing missing was the type of crowd that such a thriller deserved. Wales hosted the game at the national stadium, the only one taking place there during this year’s tournament, watched by 10,569 supporters. The number is a record for a fixture between the two teams in Wales but if it had been held next door at Cardiff Arms Park, which has an official capacity of just over 12,000, or at Cardiff City Stadium, which holds about 33,000 and is hosting Wales men v Fiji in July, the atmosphere would have translated better to the players as well as to those watching at home. Continue reading...
The two-time Grand National winner is surely second only to ‘Rummy’ and will be a strong favourite at Aintree in 2027 Relentless drama, no significant injuries to any of the 34 runners and a winner who inked himself on to the exclusive list of Aintree legends with the possibility of better to come next year. Saturday’s Grand National produced everything racing could realistically hope for and more...
The two-time Grand National winner is surely second only to ‘Rummy’ and will be a strong favourite at Aintree in 2027 Relentless drama, no significant injuries to any of the 34 runners and a winner who inked himself on to the exclusive list of Aintree legends with the possibility of better to come next year. Saturday’s Grand National produced everything racing could realistically hope for and more, and if I Am Maximus can stay sound and return to Aintree in 2027 for a fourth run in the race, it promises to be one of the highlights of the sporting year. There was a 45-year wait for the next dual Grand National winner after Red Rum’s second success in 1974. Now, seven years after Tiger Roll’s second victory, I Am Maximus is only the third horse since the mid 1930s to register win number two, and the first since the peerless “Rummy” to win in nonconsecutive years. Having also finished a close second in 2025, he is arguably already second only to Red Rum in the list of all-time Aintree greats. He is a marketing person’s dream: a sporting hero who carries a gladiatorial name into combat, always rises to the challenge in the most famous race of the year, and won’t overturn his car or pick a fight in a nightclub. Continue reading...
One of 17 children, she lived in a shack and devoted herself to needlework. Now her dazzling creations – showing everything from giant feet in Africa to the ‘fallen woman’ of Babylon – are being rediscovered Elizabeth Allen lived at the end of a steep, muddy track in a dilapidated hut with a notice on the door that read: “Knock very loudly.” One day in the winter of 1965, the artist Patrick Heron ...
One of 17 children, she lived in a shack and devoted herself to needlework. Now her dazzling creations – showing everything from giant feet in Africa to the ‘fallen woman’ of Babylon – are being rediscovered Elizabeth Allen lived at the end of a steep, muddy track in a dilapidated hut with a notice on the door that read: “Knock very loudly.” One day in the winter of 1965, the artist Patrick Heron did just that – and overnight Allen, then in her 80s, became lauded as a luminary of the art world. There were exhibitions across Britain, not to mention in New York, Los Angeles and Barcelona. The Guardian called her “a remarkable colourist”, adding that “Klee and Matisse would undoubtedly have been impressed”. One of Allen’s pieces, 1966’s The Great Swan Song, reflects the surprise she felt at this flurry of fame after a life lived in total obscurity. This textile work features a black bird stitched into a cobalt-blue pond fringed by brown-leafed trees. The bird’s red eyes are gazing up at a vermilion sky, while a patchwork piece of bright green striped cloth seems to represent Allen’s hut. Continue reading...
We were told we couldn’t take a joke, and that social media isn’t real life. Now the misogyny of early chatrooms and Gamergate has reached the White House Why has it taken so long for us to treat misogyny as a political problem? The modern manosphere has been metastasising for many years – and for years, mainstream culture has responded with a helpless shrug. There was nothing unusual about men hu...
We were told we couldn’t take a joke, and that social media isn’t real life. Now the misogyny of early chatrooms and Gamergate has reached the White House Why has it taken so long for us to treat misogyny as a political problem? The modern manosphere has been metastasising for many years – and for years, mainstream culture has responded with a helpless shrug. There was nothing unusual about men hurting women, even if the technology was new. In the early aughts, angry and alienated men began indulging in recreational misogyny online, bombarding women and girls in the public eye with threats , insults, harassment, hacking, and hideous “revenge porn”. Strange as it may now sound, though, “the internet” was still seen as separate from “real life”. Laurie Penny is a journalist, author and screenwriter. They write the substack Force of Culture Continue reading...
Having diverse microbes in the gut has been promoted as a way to boost immunity, but studies suggest it’s more complicated than that The trillions of microorganisms that live in and on our bodies – known as the microbiome – have been hailed as the key to better immunity. “Lots of studies correlate the types of bacteria in your microbiome with health and disease across almost every mental and physi...
Having diverse microbes in the gut has been promoted as a way to boost immunity, but studies suggest it’s more complicated than that The trillions of microorganisms that live in and on our bodies – known as the microbiome – have been hailed as the key to better immunity. “Lots of studies correlate the types of bacteria in your microbiome with health and disease across almost every mental and physical condition,” says Prof Daniel M Davis, head of life sciences at Imperial College London and the author of Self Defence: A Myth-busting Guide to Immune Health . “But most of that evidence is correlative, and we still need to understand exactly how the microbiome affects health.” Scientists often look at one measure: diversity. In other words, how many different species of microbes live in the gut. “The more diverse your microbiome is, the more it seems to correlate with not being ill.” Continue reading...
Kara Nortman talks Monarch Collective’s sports ownership portfolio and potential investment in England Many Women’s Super League clubs are treated as “an afterthought” by their owners according to Kara Nortman, the co-founder of the women’s sport investment fund Monarch Collective and Angel City FC. Monarch last month became the first women’s multi-sport group by buying a minority stake in Clevela...
Kara Nortman talks Monarch Collective’s sports ownership portfolio and potential investment in England Many Women’s Super League clubs are treated as “an afterthought” by their owners according to Kara Nortman, the co-founder of the women’s sport investment fund Monarch Collective and Angel City FC. Monarch last month became the first women’s multi-sport group by buying a minority stake in Cleveland WNBA, the basketball franchise joining an ownership portfolio that includes the NWSL teams San Diego Wave and Boston Legacy, and the German club Viktoria Berlin. Continue reading...
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Walk into a bank and you will probably hear the tapping of keyboards and see smartly dressed staff. Now, you may also catch the scent of Singapore’s renowned pandan cake. It is an unusual combination – but you are not mistaken. You have arrived at OCBC Hong Kong’s new branch in Central. In an era when banking is increasing...
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Walk into a bank and you will probably hear the tapping of keyboards and see smartly dressed staff. Now, you may also catch the scent of Singapore’s renowned pandan cake. It is an unusual combination – but you are not mistaken. You have arrived at OCBC Hong Kong’s new branch in Central. In an era when banking is increasingly conducted on smartphones and laptops, physical branches might feel like relics of the past. Yet...