ANF vs AEO: Abercrombie & Fitch vs American Eagle Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Abercrombie & Fitch is a brand turnaround story targeting the aspirational 20s demographic through Abercrombie and the teen beach lifestyle market through Hollister, while American Eagle is a more inclusive teen and 20s brand with Aerie as its growth engine. ANF's brand recovery has been more impressive recently; AEO's Aerie positioning is more defensible through brand loyalty.
ANF vs AEO is a brand turnaround story versus an inclusive brand loyalty story — Abercrombie wins if the 20s aspiration thesis continues driving full-price selling; American Eagle wins if Aerie's body-positive brand sustains loyalty against fast-fashion pricing pressure.
ANF holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. ANF has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+113.74% vs +21.61%), though AEO has the better forward P/E setup (7.83x vs 11.31x for ANF). On fundamentals, AEO is growing revenue faster (7.50%), while ANF maintains the higher operating margin (19.94%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for AEO (+22.26%) than for ANF (+12.61%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- want exposure to a successful brand turnaround with momentum in the 20s demographic
- believe Hollister revitalization adds meaningful upside to Abercrombie's recovery
- prefer aspirational brand positioning that supports full-price selling and margin improvement
- are comfortable with fashion execution risk in a brand-sensitive retail segment
- value Aerie's Gen-Z brand loyalty as a durable competitive advantage in intimates and activewear
- believe American Eagle's denim expertise is defensible vs fast-fashion commodity competition
- prefer a more inclusive brand positioning that broadens the addressable customer demographic
- want exposure to Quiet Platforms as a logistics monetization option
| Metric | ANF | AEO |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 62.3 | 34.6 |
| AI ranki | #131 | #1991 |
| Latest closei | $151.99 | $18.05 |
| 1M returni | +12.44% | +22.73% |
| 3M returni | +56.10% | +3.92% |
| 6M returni | +63.62% | -4.47% |
| 1Y returni | +113.74% | +21.61% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ANF | AEO |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $21.37K (+113.7%) started 2025-10-15 | $12.48K (+24.8%) started 2025-10-15 |
| 5Y ago | $38.81K (+288.1%) started 2021-10-15 | $9.91K (-0.9%) started 2021-10-15 |
| 10Y ago | $138.93K (+1289.3%) started 2016-10-17 | $18.93K (+89.3%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ANF | AEO |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $6.16B | $2.52B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 12.55 | 7.74 |
| Forward P/Ei | 11.31 | 7.83 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 1.28 | 0.74 |
| Analyst targeti | $163.55 | $18.36 |
| Target upsidei | +12.61% | +22.26% |
| Metric | ANF | AEO |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 4.80% | 7.50% |
| Earnings growthi | 43.30% | 75.60% |
| EPS growthi | +43.30% | +75.60% |
| FCF margini | +8.16% | +2.50% |
| Operating margini | 19.94% | 3.65% |
| Profit margini | 10.04% | 5.86% |
| ROIC proxyi | 40.61% | 20.00% |
| Return on equityi | 40.61% | 20.00% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 3.44% |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 25.64% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.97 | 1.31 |
| Debt/equityi | 94.00 | 108.99 |
| Current ratioi | 1.41 | 1.59 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.75 | 0.47 |
Over the past year, ANF and AEO have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.45), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | ANF | AEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +113.74% | +21.61% |
| CAGRi | +113.85% | +21.63% | |
| Volatilityi | 71.28% | 51.68% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.33 | 0.55 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.70 | 0.78 | |
| Max drawdowni | 45.65% | 47.48% | |
| Current drawdowni | 0.06% | 34.30% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 19.61% | 26.03% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 23.91% | 30.81% | |
| Max daily dropi | 17.69% | 13.97% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 20.64% | 24.87% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +288.13% | -14.93% |
| CAGRi | +31.16% | -3.18% | |
| Volatilityi | 62.80% | 54.42% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.67 | 0.12 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.06 | 0.18 | |
| Max drawdowni | 69.93% | 65.10% | |
| Current drawdowni | 20.98% | 34.30% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 35.84% | 36.94% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 41.61% | 40.59% | |
| Max daily dropi | 28.58% | 17.47% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.78% | 24.87% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1053.55% | +38.96% |
| CAGRi | +27.73% | +3.35% | |
| Volatilityi | 61.96% | 52.32% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.63 | 0.24 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.96 | 0.34 | |
| Max drawdowni | 72.45% | 75.66% | |
| Current drawdowni | 20.98% | 44.31% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 31.55% | 39.10% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 37.69% | 44.03% | |
| Max daily dropi | 28.58% | 19.30% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 42.78% | 26.08% |
| Category | ANF | AEO |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Abercrombie & Fitch Co. | American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. |
| Sector | Consumer Cyclical | Consumer Cyclical |
| Industry | Apparel Retail | Apparel Retail |
| Core business | Specialty apparel retailer with Abercrombie & Fitch (20s aspirational), Hollister (teen beach lifestyle), and Abercrombie Kids brands. ANF underwent a dramatic brand turnaround under CEO Fran Horowitz, shifting from logo-heavy exclusivity to size-inclusive aspirational fashion. | Specialty retailer with American Eagle (teen and 20s denim and basics) and Aerie (inclusive intimates, activewear, and swimwear). Aerie's body-positive positioning has built a loyal following among Gen-Z consumers. |
| Investor focus | Brand heat across 20s demographic, international expansion, Hollister revitalization, comparable-store sales momentum, and operating margin expansion. | Aerie revenue growth and margin expansion, American Eagle brand health vs SHEIN and fast-fashion competition, comparable-store sales, and Quiet Platforms logistics monetization. |
- Dramatic brand turnaround under current CEO has transformed ANF from a struggling legacy retailer to a fashion-forward aspirational brand
- 20s demographic focus positions Abercrombie in a higher-income cohort than teen-focused peers
- International e-commerce and new store openings provide geographic growth runway
- Aerie's body-positive brand identity has created genuine Gen-Z loyalty that is difficult for competitors to replicate
- American Eagle's denim expertise gives it credibility in a category where quality and fit matter
- Quiet Platforms logistics subsidiary provides a potential long-term asset monetization opportunity
- Fashion execution risk — ANF's recovery is heavily dependent on maintaining brand heat with the 20s consumer
- Hollister has been slower to recover and still represents a meaningful revenue headwind
- Operating margin improvement requires sustained revenue leverage without promotional pricing
- Fast-fashion competition from SHEIN and Temu pressure American Eagle's core denim and basics business on price
- Aerie's growth has slowed from its pandemic highs as the activewear market matured
- Promotional environment in teen apparel creates margin headwinds
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