Guess shares opened 15% up on Wednesday: this is why

Guess Inc (NYSE: GES) opened about 15% up in the stock market on Wednesday after announcing a massive increase in its quarterly cash dividend and reporting strong results for its fiscal Q3.

Q3 financial performance and quarterly dividend

The apparel retailer’s board, late on Tuesday, declared a dividend of 22.5 cents per share, representing a 100% increase from last year.

The American clothing brand said its profit printed at $29.9 million in Q3 that translates to 45 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, it earned 62 cents per share in the recent quarter, as per the earnings press release.

The California-based retailer generated $643.1 million in revenue. In the comparable quarter of last year, it had posted 18 cents of EPS on $615.9 million in revenue. The quarterly numbers topped analysts’ forecast of 46 cents in adjusted EPS and $615.1 million in revenue.

What the future might look like for Guess

CEO Carlos Alberini attributed the strong quarterly performance to Americas Retail, European Wholesale, and Licensing business. In the press release, he said:

The management refrained from giving detailed guidance for the future but said revenue was likely to see a well under 5.0% decline in revenue this year, including a mid-single-digit decline it expects in the current quarter.