Dive Brief:

• Struggling Gap Inc. Thursday reported June same-store sales across all brands rising 2%, beating analyst expectations of a 3.6% fall.

• The gains were led by Old Navy’s same-store sales rise of 5%, which beat estimates of a 3.3% fall. Same-store sales at the flagship Gap brand fell 1%, better than an expected 2.6% drop that was expected. Banana Republic's same-store sales decreased 4% in the month, beating expectations of a 10.3% decline. 

• Gap shares jumped 7% Friday after the June report was released.

Dive Insight:

Gap is a picture of an American apparel brand that, after falling far from grace, is showing some life thanks to significant style improvements at all three of its major brands. Whether those improvements mark a trend remains to be seen, however.

Many analysts are taking a wait-and-see attitude with the company, according to a round-up by Barron’s.

Analysts by and large are looking for more upbeat results in coming months, with a few saying that onlookers will have to wait until August to be sure that a turnaround will stick. Cowen & Co.’s Oliver Chen noted that promotions could be helping sales; he and others apparently want to see fashion at Gap’s flagship brand improve in addition to the improved traffic and inventory at Old Navy.

“Looking to Gap and Banana Republic, we continue to see improvement in the assortments,” wrote Guggenheim’s Howard Tubin, who reiterated a neutral rating on company’s stock. “Gap’s assortment includes more variety from a color, pattern, silhouette and trend perspective, while Banana Republic is delivering more commercially friendly patterns and key item offerings. Despite the improvement in comps and updated assortments, we remain on the sidelines with regards to the shares until we determine that this improvement is sustainable.”

The company's June report does show some signs of the turnaround CEO Art Peck has been pursuing since he took the post in 2014. While Old Navy had long been the apparel retailer’s saving grace, that brand, too, has faltered in recent months. Old Navy's downturn has apparently been halted, at least for now.

But it’s important to note that, as Fortune says, while Gap beat expectations with same-store sales at its flagship brand and Banana Republic, the Gap brand still saw its 25th straight monthly decline. And they were not increases, after all.

Bottom line—Gap’s turnaround, despite its June ray of sunshine, is taking longer than anyone expected, as noted by Credit Suisse as it maintained its sell rating. 

“[W]e don’t view the better than expected comp and improvement in metrics as an indication that merchandise reception has improved significantly,” wrote MKM Partners analyst Roxanne Meyer, who also reiterated a neutral rating. “August could serve as a catalyst month for Old Navy as the assortment is expected to be rebalanced. Our estimates remain unchanged.”