Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.’s new chief executive got a lesson on Wall Street Thursday: Don’t miss sales projections.
The Anaheim-based teen retailer reported a same-store sales gain of 4.8% for the five weeks ended April 2, versus a year earlier. That’s less than the 7.9% sales gain analysts were expecting, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.
The report was the first released under Seth Johnson, a former Abercrombie & Fitch Co. executive, who took over as PacSun’s chief executive this month. Former chief Greg Weaver is staying with the company as executive chairman.
Shares of PacSun were down 4% to $26.7 in trading on Thursday.
Same-store sales at the company’s d.e.m.o chain were up 4.3% in the period, with PacSun-branded stores reporting a 4.9% rise. The company’s total sales for the period were $120 million, up 15.7% versus a year earlier.
PacSun said it is on track to post first-quarter net income of $17 million, up 2% from last year.
