Tanger — boosted by early back-to-school marketing, tax-free days and the consumer response to tariff-related pricing and product availability concerns — posted second-quarter gains across a spectrum of metrics.

Net income for the quarter ended June 30 rose to 26 cents per share, or $29.9 million, compared to 22 cents per share, or $24.6 million, during the prior-year period.

Funds from operations increased to 58 cents per share, or $68.6 million, compared with 53 cents per share, or $60.9 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents per share. 

Core funds from operations was 58 cents per share compared to 53 cents. FFO and core FFO are widely accepted measures in real estate to gauge company performances.

The results impressed Wall Street investors which pushed the stock up 6 percent to $32.29 in trading Tuesday.

Based on the positive trends, Tanger raised its outlook for the year to between 93 cents and $1 in net income per diluted share, from the previous forecast of 91 cents to 99 cents per share.

“Traffic is up versus last year,” Stephen Yalof, Tanger’s president chief executive officer, told WWD. “It started to build in April, after the announcements on tariffs.”

He said customers decided to shop early fearing inventories would be limited and prices higher later in the year as tariffs kicked in. Back-to-school shopping, the second biggest selling period of the retail year, normally begins in the third quarter. But this year, early bts shopping at Tanger outlet and lifestyle centers was fueled by initiating back-to-school marketing in June, as well as tax-free weeks during July and late June in several Southern cities. “Tax-free weeks are huge. They line up with back-to-school,” Yalof said.

While some brands did raise prices last quarter, it had little impact on spending, Yalof said.

Asked what categories and brands sold the best last quarter, Yalof cited athleisure and performance apparel including Vuori, Athleta, Fabletics and Lululemon; jewelry including Pandora, as well as Coach, Ralph Lauren, Gap, Old Navy and Swarovski. In addition, Tanger has been leasing more space to food and beverage retailers, including Shake Shack, Chipotle and entertainment formats. Tanger recently signed its first lease with Main Event, a family entertainment for billiards, bowling, arcade games, laser tag, rock climbing and other activities, opening at the end of this year at the Tanger outlet center in Deer Park, N.Y. Tanger also recently began opening Marc Jacobs outlets — it has four, and Sephora regular-priced stores, with six units currently operating.

Within the last two years, Tanger has acquired four shopping centers, in Asheville, N.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Little Rock, Ark., and Orange Village, Ohio. Tanger also opened a center in Nashville. “We’ve got other things in the pipeline,” Yalof said, without specifying. “We’ve got a great balance sheet and amazing access to capital.” The company targets “mid-tier outlet and lifestyle shopping centers we think are the best in their respective markets.”

“The most important part of the story is that there is not much new retail development, so the lack of new supply makes our space more valuable every day,” he said. “That gives us opportunity to be discerning with the retailers we let in, and opportunity to grow rents and our net income.”

In a conference call Tuesday with investors and industry analysts, Yalof said: “Our merchandising strategy is yielding impressive results with our open air outlet and newly acquired lifestyle centers. We continue to attract brands and retail categories that are new to our portfolio while expanding store counts with our most productive existing tenants. This thoughtful approach to merchandising is attracting a younger demographic while maintaining our core value-seeking shopper base. Across our portfolio, we’re seeing our shoppers visit more frequently, stay longer when they visit, and ultimately spend more.”

He also said “Population shifts and residential densification in many of our core markets have created the need for more restaurants, service uses, health clubs and entertainment venues. And the land adjacent to our traffic-generating shopping centers has proven to be a destination of choice for many of these national and local businesses. Our digital capabilities and marketing initiatives are driving strong engagement and delivering meaningful results. Our proprietary loyalty program, TangerClub, enables us to deliver more targeted and compelling offers to our customers. These programs are driving results.”

In other statistics reported by the Greensboro, N.C.-based Tanger, occupancy was 96.6 percent on June 30, compared to 96.4 percent a year earlier. Average tenant sales per square foot totaled $465 for the 12 months ended June 30, compared to $438 during the prior year. Tanger operates 37 outlet centers and three open-air lifestyle centers.