PacSun rides sales wave against profit undertow

Pacific Sunwear said it will lose less money in the fourth quarter than originally expected after its California lifestyle product assortment resonated with holiday shoppers and drove a 9% same store sales increase.



"We have had an excellent holiday season with strong sales performance in both men's and women's and an estimated 400 to 500 basis point improvement in gross margins," said PacSun President and CEO Gary Schoenfeld. "With what will be our 12th consecutive quarter of positive comparable store net sales, customers are embracing the new PacSun and our elevated brands and merchandising assortments."



After the strong showing in December, the operators of 617 stores, said it expected to have a fourth quarter loss on an adjusted basis in the range of 11 cents to 12 cents, after previously indicating losses could range from 12 cents to 17 cents. That’s an improvement from the prior year when the adjusted operating loss per share was 17 cents.