It's been a rough year for American Eagle ($AEO) - the Pittsburgh-based clothing retailer has seen shares drop 21% after a rough second half to 2018. When it announces earnings on December 11, analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research are looking for EPS $0.48. 

American Eagle job postings took a steep dive after the holiday season last year - that coincided with a huge hit to shares, which lost around 40% of their value from summer to the end of the year. But, so far in 2019, they've rebounded, and American Eagle job postings rose nearly 80%, almost hitting last year's highs - a good sign that the company bounced back from last year's debacle. 

Another thing American Eagle has going in its favor is a rising store count, poising it and its subsidiary locations (like Aerie, which is quietly taking on other well-established womenswear brands - and taking market share too). American Eagle store count is up about 4% in 2019.

American Eagle's Facebook ($FB) Talking About Count is shooting back up, after a long period with low engagement. It's good news, although it's not great news for this quarter - all of the engagement we're focusing on as of late pertains to the current quarter and not the one American Eagle is about to report. 

However, with Facebook Likes for American Eagle and its womenswear brand Aerie plateauing (not shown) the fact that both brands are seeing their Talking About Count increase is a signal they're engaging with existing customers - and hopefully, happy ones. 

About the Data: 

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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