Shares of Foothill Ranch-based mall retailer Wet Seal Inc. got a boost Monday after analysts responded to the company’s turnaround plan.
Shares of Wet Seal closed up 5.6% on a market value of about $200 million.
The company’s chief executive, Ed Thomas, said on Friday Wet Seal is fine tuning operations to get back to the growth it saw in the past few years.
Wet Seal, which spiraled earlier this decade, has seen its turnaround fade in 2007.
Last month, the company warned that it expects a profit short of Wall Street expectations for the current quarter as well as a decline in sales at stores open at least a year.
Wet Seal runs mall stores selling clothes for teen girls and young women.
On Friday, the company told Wall Street it plans to slow its rate of opening stores from 15% to 5% next year as it focuses on improving operations.
Wet Seal also plans to tweak its mix of clothes at its stores, switch out merchandise more often and cut operating costs.
Analysts were positive after the meeting but still expressed caution that a turnaround is likely to play out over time.
