Ahead of the Bell: Abercrombie & Fitch Upgraded

Consumers snapped up merchandise from Abercrombie & Fitch over the Black Friday weekend, an analyst said, while upgrading shares of the teen apparel retailer.

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey analyst Adrienne Tennant upgraded the stock to "Outperform" from "Market Perform" and said traffic improved at Abercrombie & Fitch and its Hollister unit.

Abercrombie & Fitch has been losing market share in recent quarters to lower-priced competitors, such as Aeropostale Inc., as it kept prices high.

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But Tennant said management has been more promotional over the past few months, and shoppers are responding. This suggests its brands "clearly are still front and center for customers, but that the price points have simply been unattainable."

The promotional activity is likely to boost market share, Tennant said, raising her price target to $46 from $39. That implies shares have room to rise 15.1 percent from Friday's close of $39.97.

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Meanwhile, Abercrombie is still expanding abroad. International sales represent about 11 percent of total sales, Tennant said.

Abercrombie has opened stores in Italy and the U.K. and will boost international openings, especially Hollister stores, over the next two years.