Hot Topic posts wider net loss in quarter

The quarterly net loss was $1.7 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with a year-ago net loss of $905,000, or 2 cents per share.

Wall Street, on average, had expected a loss of 3 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates, while the company had anticipated a net loss of 2 cents to 4 cents per share.

Sales rose 1 percent to $161.7 million. Analysts, on average, had been expecting revenue of $160.2 million.

The company, which sells rock n' roll-inspired apparel and accessories as well as music, has been trying to turn around a slide in sales by improving merchandise and upgrading the look of its stores.

Same-store sales, a key performance metric, have fallen in every month this year save one. During the quarter, same-store sales fell 5.8 percent.

For the third quarter, the company expects earnings to range between 13 cents and 16 cents per share, assuming a same-store sales decline in the low single digits.

It expects fourth-quarter earnings to range between 29 cents and 33 cents per share, based on a similar same-store sales outlook as the third quarter.

Wall Street analysts, on average, has been expecting third-quarter earnings per share of 18 cents and fourth-quarter earnings of 26 cents.

Shares of Hot Topic rose 1 percent to $8.85 in extended trade after closing at $8.75, up nearly 3 percent, on Nasdaq.