What Happened?
Shares of young adult apparel retailer American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) jumped 5.1% in the afternoon session after President Donald Trump softened his criticism of China, easing trade tensions.
The positive comments helped U.S. stocks recover from a sell-off during the previous trading session. The S&P 500 jumped 1.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 1.1%. This widespread market rebound was fueled by renewed investor optimism after the president's remarks suggested a more stable trade environment, following a period of uncertainty that had sent markets lower.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $15.02, up 4.9% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy American Eagle? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
American Eagle’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 32 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 21 days ago when the stock dropped 3.5% as the stock fell amid broader weakness in the fashion sector and a cautious analyst note. The move came as the wider fashion supply chain faced a cautious outlook heading into the fourth quarter of 2025, with overall business confidence described as weak. Adding to the pressure, Morgan Stanley maintained its "equal weight" rating on the apparel retailer's stock. While the firm increased its price target to $17.00, this new target suggested a potential downside of over 14% from the stock's price at the time of the report. The broader analyst view also leaned negative, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" for the company, reflecting more hold and sell ratings than buy ratings from investment analysts.
American Eagle is down 12.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $15.02 per share, it is trading 30.1% below its 52-week high of $21.50 from October 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of American Eagle’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,016.
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