Men's Wearhouse Tumbles on Outlook

Men's Wearhouse posts 20% jump in second-quarter earnings, but lower-than-expected outlook sends shares sinking.

Author:: Jeanine Poggi
Publish date:: Sep 10, 2009 12:58 PM EDT

HOUSTON (

TheStreet

) --

Men's Wearhouse

(MW)

may have added another win for men's retailers, but its cautious outlook isn't sitting well with investors.

A day after the apparel retailers reported a 20% jump in its second-quarter earnings, shares tumbled 8% to $25.21 due to a lower-than-expected outlook.

Management now expects third-quarter earnings in the range of 27 cents to 30 cents a share, below the 32 cents a share analysts forecast.

On Wednesday the company said it earned $39.5 million or 75 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with $32.8 million, or 63 cents, in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected earnings of 60 cents a share.

Sales slipped 3.5% to $526.2 million from $545.3 million. Alluring promotions, like the "buy one get one free" suit sale proved successful.

Last week, rival

JoS. A. Bank (JOSB) also showed the strength of men's retailers

, posting a 40% surge in its second-quarter sales.

Earlier today, women's retailer

Talbots (TLB) reported a loss in its second quarter

, one of the many women's chains, including

New York & Company

(NWY)

and

AnnTaylor Stores

(ANN)