Gap stock is leaping after sales crush expectations

Shares of Gap are headed upwards after the company reported stronger than expected sales for the month of June.

Sales for Gap's US stores were up 2% from the prior month, far better than analysts' expectations for a drop of 3.6%.

Sales were up to $1.57 billion for the five-week period ending July 2. The sales for the previous five-week period were $1.54 billion.

Here's a rundown of the sales for each of the brands under the Gap umbrella:

• Gap Global: -1% versus expectations of -2.7%
• Banana Republic: -4% versus expectations of -10.3%
• Old Navy: +5% versus expectations -3.3%

"We are pleased to see better performance across the portfolio this month, partly driven by an improvement in June traffic trends, particularly at Old Navy," said Gap CFO Sabrina Simmons.

In response, shares of the retailer jumped more than 5%, but had settled to an increase of roughly 4.02% at $22.05 a share as of 4:37 p.m. ET.