Saints, Sinners & Stocks: Rick's Cabaret

Times may be tough, but no one's giving up smokes or sex. For that, investors in Rick's Cabaret (RICK Quote) can be thankful.

Sales at the publicly traded gentleman's club chain jumped 57% year over year for the first quarter ending Dec. 31, with nightclubs delivering $16.9 million vs. $10.7 million in the year-ago period. Full results for the first quarter will be released next month.

Rick's also recently released its audited fourth quarter and fiscal 2008 earnings, which were pretty respectable compared to its peers. Revenues in the fourth quarter were up 87% year over year and service revenue rose 92.6% over the previous year. While most adult entertainment-oriented stocks are exposed heavily to the weaknesses in the media market, Rick's -- which provides a more "personal experience" than say Playboy (PLA Quote) or on-demand video service Lodgenet (LNET Quote) -- only devotes a small portion of the company to media, the operation of several Web sites. ...