By Andria Cheng
Retail stocks rose Tuesday as women's clothing retailer Talbots
Inc. posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and men's
clothing company Men's Wearhouse Inc. reported an unexpected
quarterly profit. Surf-inspired teen apparel company Quiksilver
Inc. stock tumbled after its fiscal second-quarter profit missed
analysts' average estimate.
Talbots (TLB) shares rose 1.8% to $5.10. The retailer swung to a
first-quarter loss of $23.6 million, or 44 cents a share, from a
profit of $1.6 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales
in the quarter ended May 2 fell to $306.2 million from $414.8
million with comparable-store sales declining by 27%. Excluding
restructuring charges of 12 cents a share and a 9-cent loss from
discontinued operations, the company said it would have lost 23
cents a share.
Talbots said Monday it agreed to sell J. Jill to private equity
firm Golden Gate Capital for $75 million.
The company said it's taking additional steps to reduce its
corporate headcount across all locations by 20% as part of its plan
to reduce $150 million in expenses. It forecast a second-quarter
loss of 50 cents to 58 cents a share. Analysts, on average,
estimated Talbots to lose 49 cents a share in the first quarter and
68 cents in the second quarter, according to FactSet.
Men's Wearhouse Inc. (MW) shares rose 11% to $19.78 after the
men's clothing retailer posted an unexpected first-quarter profit
of 10 cents a share. That compared with analysts' average loss
estimate of 1 cent a share, according to FactSet.
The S&P Retail Index (RLX) rose 0.8% to 338.65.
Quiksilver (ZQK) shares plunged 19% to $2.93 after its adjusted
profit came a penny shy of the average analysts' estimate surveyed
by FactSet. The company said the environment remains "extremely
challenging" and that it has yet to see an improvement in overall
business trends. Quiksilver forecast third-quarter revenue to be
down in the mid-teens on a percentage basis and per-share profit in
the low-single-digit range.
-Andria Cheng; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com