Sector Snap: Teen apparel retailers mostly rise

Shares of teen apparel retailers mostly rose Thursday after the group reported mixed same-store sales results for May.

Hot Topic Inc., which reported Wednesday that its same-store sales dropped less than analysts expected, soared in midday trading. Shares jumped 84 cents, or 15.9 percent, to $6.11. The stock has ranged from $3.90 to $11.45 over the past year.

The retailer reported same-store sales fell 0.2 percent in the month, less than the 2.4 percent predicted by analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst Adrienne Tennant upgraded the shares to "Outperform" from "Market Perform," saying the company might report positive same-store sales by the end of a year.

"We believe that the worst is now behind the company," Tennant wrote in a note to clients Thursday.

Meanwhile, shares of Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. jumped 80 cents, or 9.2 percent, to $9.50 after the retailer said its same-store sales fell 3 percent, in line with analyst expectations.

Much of the drop, the company said, was due to slow sales in footwear, a business the company is exiting.

At Aeropostale, same-store sales rose 6 percent, matching analyst expectations. However, Morgan Keegan analyst Brad Stephens said in a client note that investors may have been expecting double-digit gains for the month.

Shares fell 50 cents to $33.55.

Buckle Inc., which offers lower-priced merchandise, reported the biggest gain in same-store sales. The company said its same-store sales jumped 34.7 percent for the month.

Shares rose $1.57, or 3.4 percent, to $48.42.