Gap’s stock leaps toward a record daily gain after the retailer’s ‘most compelling’ earnings beat

Share of Gap Inc. GPS gapped 20% higher at Friday’s opening price of $16.39 Thursday’s close was $13.67 — then kept climbing to be up 30.9% toward a 21-month high in morning trading, after the apparel retailer beat quarterly profit expectations by a wide margin, helped by strength at its Old Navy stores. The stock was on track for the best one-day percentage gain since it started trading in May 1976, according to FactSet data, compared with the current record gain of 29.5% seen on March 24, 2020. The stock’s weekly gain of 32.8% would be its best since the 38.3% rally for the week ended June 5, 2020. Wells Fargo analyst…