Gap Inc. shares jumped as much as 8% in late trading Thursday after the retailer reported an earnings beat and increased its guidance for the full year ahead of the important holiday-shopping season. The retail company–which owns and operates the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy chains–reported profit of $228 million, or 58 cents a share, down from 60 cents a share a year ago. Total revenue for the third quarter was $3.84 billion, up from $3.8 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts on average expected Gap to report earnings of 54 cents a share on sales of $3.76 billion, according to FactSet. Gap said it now expects full-year earnings of $2.18 a share to $2.22 a share, after previously guiding for earnings of $2.02 a share to $2.10 a share. Shares neared $30 a share in immediate after-hours trading following the report’s release, after closing with a 2.2% increase at $27.48.
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