Retail Winners & Losers: Children's Place

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- One of the surprises when it comes to September same-store sales was Children's Place(PLCE Quote), whose shares rose 3.8% to $33.77 in afternoon trading Friday.

The children's apparel retailer saw comparable sales grow 4%, far surpassing the 1.3% decline analysts had expected.

On Friday, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Richard Jaffe upgraded the company to buy from hold, saying management was able to boost sales with promotions and other deals offered to shoppers. Jaffe said there's also an opportunity for Children's Place to further strengthen its business once it hires a CEO to replace interim chief Chuck Crovitz.

Teen retailer Aeropostale(ARO Quote) also reported better-than-expected September sales, but the company's shares were downgraded by Goldman Sachs to sell from neutral.

Analyst Michelle Tan said the company's stock rise will most likely slow while competitors' shares stand to advance more sharply. Shares of Aeropostale have surpassed rivals by 35% year-to-date, but that gap could narrow as sales comparisons ease and inventory levels improve for those other retailers.

Aeropostale's stock price slipped 1.7% to $42.06 in afternoon trading.

Shares of 99 Cents Only Stores(NDN Quote) lost 6.5% to $13.09 Friday, a day after the discounter said its sales rose 2.2% to $324.7 million, just missing analysts' expectations of $326.4 million.

Other notable Friday decliners included Rite Aid(RAD Quote), which sank 3.1% to $1.55, Ross Stores(ROST Quote), which fell 3.2% to $45.50 and Office Depot(ODP Quote), which lost 2.5% to $7.17.

-Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.

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