Shares of Zumiez Inc. fell on Thursday, after the sports apparel and equipment retailer said same-store sales fell in June and an analyst downgraded the stock.
Late Wednesday, Zumiez said same-store sales fell 3.4 percent in June, while analysts polled by Thomson Financial predicted a smaller drop of 0.8 percent.
Zumiez said positive footwear and skate equipment sales were offset by weaker accessories and apparel sales.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key measure of retailer performance, because it measures growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.
On Thursday, William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia downgraded the company to "Market Perform" from "Outperform" based lower visibility on the back-to-school season following "disappointing" June sales.
The weak June same-store sales make it less likely the company will post positive same-store sales for the third quarter, increasing the likelihood of an earnings estimate cut, Zackfia wrote in a note to investors.
"Thus, while we continue to find the stock interesting for longer-term investors at 15 times our 2009 estimate, we are moving to the sidelines as we believe more risk now exists to near-term earnings estimates," she wrote.
Shares fell $4.08, or 23.9 percent, to $13.02 Thursday after hitting a 52-week low of $12.80 earlier in the session. The stock has traded between $13.26 and $53.99 in the past year.
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