American Eagle (AEO) reported much better than expected results on Tuesday, sending shares flying as high as 15% in after-hours trading. 🚀

(Thanks, Sydney Sweeney! Honestly… give that woman an honorary CFO title at this point.) 😂

Earnings per share came in at 53 cents (versus the expected 44), while revenue landed at $1.36 billion (beating the $1.32 billion forecast). Sales were up 6% compared to last year, which is not mind-blowing, but definitely strong.

Naturally, everyone is pointing to the viral campaigns with Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce 🌟🏈, with analysts saying this is the first quarter where we’re actually seeing the payoff. 📈

And yes, credit absolutely goes where it’s due — those ads were EVERYWHERE.

BUT…

A closer look shows that while the main American Eagle line and their fan-favorite “great jeans” held their own, the real MVP was their underrated lingerie and loungewear brand, Aerie, which quietly stole the show.💕

Because of the strong performance, American Eagle has now raised its expectations for the next quarter and the year ahead. Sales for the fourth fiscal quarter are expected to grow 8–9% — which is four times what analysts predicted. Yeah, you read that right. FOUR times.🤯

If that’s not impressive, I truly don’t know what is. And if this momentum keeps up, American Eagle might just turn 2026 into its comeback era.