Shares of Tilly’s Inc. were up 21% to $8.56 and a market value of $240.3 million in midday trading, following better-than-expected financial results for the third quarter reported after markets closed yesterday.
The Irvine-based action sports retailer’s sales were up 5.7% to $131.3 million for the quarter, which ended Nov. 1.
“We are pleased with the meaningful progress we are making on our initiatives to increase sales and profitability as our third quarter results exceeded expectations,” Tilly’s president and Chief Executive Daniel Griesemer said in a statement.
Griesemer attributed the results to, among other things, controlling inventory and improving margins. He noted there was “more work to be done” but said the company is “well-positioned for the holiday selling season.”
Tilly’s net income was $5.1 million, or 18 cents per diluted share. That’s down 19% from the $6.1 million, or 22 cents per diluted share, it posted in the third quarter of fiscal 2013.
The retailer operated 207 stores at the end of the quarter— it opened five during the period and closed one. Its same-store sales, which include e-commerce, declined 1.2% from the same period last year.
It said it expects fourth quarter same-store sales to be “flat to negative low single digits” and net income per diluted share to be 15 cents to 19 cents. Its earlier estimate was about 19 cents.
