Gap beats earnings and revenue estimates, hikes profit margin outlook as results are posted early

• Gap beat fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates and hiked its profit margin outlook.
• The apparel retailer released its results earlier than expected after a presentation reportedly appeared on its website Thursday morning.
• Gap CEO Richard Dickson aims to lead a sales turnaround at the legacy retailer.

Gap beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates and raised its full-year profit margin outlook, the apparel retailer said in results released earlier than expected Thursday.

The company's shares rose nearly 3% after being halted for much of Thursday morning. Bloomberg reported that a presentation showing the results briefly appeared on Gap's website in the morning, before it was apparently taken down.

Gap's stock was halted just before 10 a.m. ET. The company then released its quarterly results at 11:12 a.m. ET, hours before it was originally expected to drop the results after the bell Thursday.

Gap did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Here's what the company reported for the fiscal second quarter, compared with what Wall Street expected, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 54 cents vs. 40 cents expected
• Revenue: $3.72 billion vs. $3.63 billion expected

The apparel retailer's sales climbed 5% to $3.7 billion in its second quarter. Comparable sales rose 3%.

Gap posted net income of $206 million, or 54 cents per share, for the period ended Aug. 3. That compares with $117 million, or 32 cents per share, in the prior-year period.

The retailer also affirmed its full-year sales guidance of up slightly from the previous year. Gap increased its gross margin outlook to about a 200 basis point expansion, up from at least a 150 basis point improvement potentially. It also hiked