The REAL numbers show American Eagle’s old-fashioned marketing campaign was a triumph

American Eagle Outfitter’s bold “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” add campaign did in fact deliver unprecedented results.

Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers didn’t mince words during the company’s earnings call. “The American Eagle Sydney campaign was intended to be a brand and business reset, and it has. Let me be very clear. Sydney Sweeney sells great jeans! She is a winner!”

After a couple strange downgrades and overreaction articles about foot traffic being down, the REAL numbers came out. Brommers said, “The campaign has generated unprecedented new customer acquisition. To be clear, that consumer acquisition is coming from every single county in the U.S. This momentum is national, and it is pervasive. We’ve experienced denim sellouts of items that Sydney has worn.”

Denim items like the Sydney Jean and Sydney denim jacket, both worn by Sweeney, sold out in a week and a day, respectively. The campaign’s reach was “staggering” and generated over 40 billion impressions.

American Eagle reported a 2% operating income increase to $103M for the quarter ending August 2, 2025 with strong positive foot traffic in August and a record-breaking Labor Day – the best in the company’s history. “All brands are seeing acceleration,” Jen Foyle noted, emphasizing the campaign’s role in driving traffic to American Eagle’s website and boosting sales across key categories. As Jen Foyle put it, “There’s work to do in the quarter, but we’re seeing great success.”

Additionally, they are still working on curbing SG&A and bought back about $200M of stock or about 10% of the float at its recently low stock price.

American Eagle anticipates at least single digit growth in the third and fourth quarters and will double-down on their marketing campaign during the height of the NFL season.