Foothill Ranch-based retail Wet Seal Inc. reported a decline in April same-store sales but its shares jumped on a raised outlook for the recently ended quarter, while Anaheim’s Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.’s April sales fell short of expectations and the company lowered its outlook.
Shares of Wet Seal, which runs mall stores selling clothes for teen girls and young women, were up about 7% at the close of New York trading with a market value of about $350 million.
Pacific Sunwear’s shares closed down about 1.5%. The company runs mall stores selling surf-inspired clothes.
Wet Seal saw a 1.9% decline in sales at stores open at least a year last month. But better than expected cost cutting led the company to up its profit outlook for the three months through May 3.
The company now forecasts a profit of $6.4 million to $7.4 million. Analysts on average were expecting $5.5 million.
Pacific Sunwear saw April same-store sales growth of 4%, below Wall Street’s expected 5.6% rise.
The company also predicted a bigger loss for the three months through May 3. Pacific Sunwear now sees a loss of $7 million to $7.7 million, up from an earlier forecast of $4.2 million to $5.6 million.
