Gap Shares Move Higher on Smaller Than Expected May Sales Decline

Shares of Gap (GPS) - Get Report are higher in Friday's trading session on the back of a less-than-expected decline in May sales. Late Thursday, the apparel retailer reported a decline in same store sales for the month of May that was less than what had been expected. Total sales for the month of May were down just five percent to $1.18 billion. Another key measure of retailers, same store sales were down just six percent, that was less than the seven percent hat had been expected. In the report, company executives called the month of May 'challenging,' but they said they saw some sales strength going into Memorial Day weekend. The retailer has long been struggling, and CEO Art Peck's turnaround effort has become dependent on cutting costs as sales deteriorate. And Gap's steep share decline has resulted in about half of the company's market cap evaporating over the past 12 months.

This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.