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Retail Sector Wildly Mixed on Weak June Sales

Jeanine Poggi

If March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, then June has come in like...an anemic bunny, perhaps?

Sales for the first week of the month rose .2%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. "As weather turned cooler than last year, gasoline prices continues to inch higher and the industry faced tax-rebate-inflated sales comparisons, the fiscal month of June began on a soft note on a week-over-week," Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist, said in a statement.

On a year-over-year basis, however, sales actually declined .8%, the largest dip in five weeks.

ICSC expects June sales -- which no longer include Wal-Mart Stores(WMT Quote), which is now refusing to make their monthly same-store sales figures public -- will be down 4% to 5%, compared with the 4.6% decline in May.

Shares of retailers were mixed in morning trading. Men's Wearhouse(MW Quote) and Movado(MOV Quote) topped New York Stock Exchange's list of biggest advancers.

Men's Wearhouse soared 16% to $20.70, after the company reported on Monday that it beat the composite first-quarter earnings forecast and its affiliate acquired bankrupt Filene's Basement.

The company's profit was nearly halved in the quarter to $5.3 million, or 10 cents a share, far surpassing analysts' expectations of a penny loss.

Movado also posted a smaller-than-expected loss this morning, which sent shares soaring 18% to $9.55.

Women's apparel retailer Talbots(TLB Quote) shot up 6% to $5.28, despite posting a $23.6 million loss in the first quarter and reporting the elimination of 20% of its staff.

But investors are still reeling over Monday's announcement that Talbots was finally able to shed its flailing J.Jill chain.

Other big gainers include OfficeMax(OMX Quote), which jumped 8% to $8.74, department store Dillard's(DDS Quote), which grew 5% to $9.79 and Children's Place, which increased 4% to $31.89.

Among the biggest losers of the day is Quicksilver(ZQK Quote), which has plunged 18% to $2.96. On Monday the company said it swung into profit in the second quarter, but negotiated a new $150 million loan and $200 million credit facility at higher rates.

Rite Aid(RAD Quote)also tumbled 7% to $1.53 a day after the drugstore announced a new refinancing plan to help pay off its mountains of debt. The company will report first-quarter results on June 24.