Foot Locker & Zumiez, rising stars

After a long weekend in half of the main stock markets, Burberry gained 2.71% pulling the

Footsie up, while Foot Locker gained support from Deustche Bank and Zumiez witches analysts with a stronger than expected earnings per share.

Rising star this week is Foot Locker, Inc. (FL) as on Tuesday caught a big upgrade from analysts at Deutsche Bank. The firm said it boosted its rating on FL to “Buy” with a $38 price target, suggesting a 17% upside to the stock’s Friday closing price of $32.42.

A Deutsche Bank analyst commtned, “All cylinders are firing for FL with a much better-than-expected start to FY12 on the top-line (+9.7% SSS) and margins (up 247 bps). Strength in the athletic footwear cycle combined with management’s track record gives us confidence that these impressive gains can continue, especially given unique product launches expected to coincide with the Euro Championships and Olympics. Our previous concerns regarding trends in Europe, LFL, and CCS banners were mitigated by each now running positive SSS. At 11.8x FY13E EPS along with a 2.2% dividend yield, shares of FL look attractive.”

Elsewhere, apparel retailer Rue21 (RUE) raised its full-year profit guidance to $1.76-$1.81 a share from $1.74-$1.79. The company forecast a second-quarter profit of 32-34 cents. Analysts expected 34 cents. Rue21 reported a first-quarter profit of $11.6 million, or 46 cents a share, up from $9.6 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 19% to $205.6 million as same-store sales jumped 1.7%. Shares of Rue21 fell -0.3% in Tuesday’s trading.

Meanwhile, “Zumiez is getting style right,” stressed analysts at InvestorsDaily. “EPS jumped 132% in fiscal 2011 and 36% in fiscal 2012. The Street expects 27% growth this fiscal year.” Revenue increased 17% and 16% the past two years. E-commerce is 8% of total sales.