Shares of Anaheim-based mall retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. jumped Friday after a bullish analyst said the company is poised to beat the disappointing forecast for the current quarter it offered last week.
Pacific Sunwear’s shares were up more than 8% in late New York trading on a market value of $275 million.
Amy Noblin of New York investment bank Pali Capital Inc. raised her rating on Pacific Sunwear’s shares to “buy” from “neutral,” citing the prospect of better than expected results for the three months through October.
Pacific Sunwear runs 916 stores that sell clothes inspired by surfing, skateboarding and other California fashions.
It is wrestling with the worst retail downturn in recent memory as well as shifting tastes among its mostly young shoppers.
Last week, Pacific Sunwear forecast results for the current quarter that came in lower than what analysts had been expecting.
The company forecast a loss of $10.4 million to $15 million, versus the $5.9 million loss Wall Street had been expecting.
The company said it expects a charge of about $10 million for markdowns and writeoffs of unsold clothes.
Noblin said she thinks Pacific Sunwear could surpassed its own lowered expectations.
She’s been among the more bullish analysts following the company.
Earlier this month, Pacific Sunwear got a boost after Noblin issued a report saying the company could benefit from a “material pickup” in shopping at California malls.
Pacific Sunwear Chief Executive Gary Schoenfeld dismissed that notion in a conference call last week, saying the company hasn’t “seen any demonstrable trend in one region of the country versus another that’s dramatically affecting how we’re thinking about the business.”
Noblin said she’s putting faith in Schoenfeld, who took over as Pacific Sunwear’s chief executive at the end of June.
He replaced Sally Frame Kasaks, who had led Pacific Sunwear since 2006. Kasaks remains as a director.
Schoenfeld is best known locally for turning around Cypress-based shoe and clothing maker Vans, leading to its 2004 sale to North Carolina’s VF Corp.
“Under his leadership, (Vans) experienced explosive growth,” Noblin wrote.
